Kidnapped!
by rika195
Summary: Takato is kidnapped by ninjas, Takuya's Dtector can turn him into a halfdigimon halfanimal, Kouji is lost in a confusing mystery, and the Tamers learn something devastating. Nothing seems to go right for any of them! And what does Kouichi know?
1. Kidnapped!

**Hey! What's up? This is a little story I came up with a while ago, when I was bored. Me and my sister would often write little "notes" to each other, which were actually stories about different characters. Some of our stories were really good, and I felt like adding them. First, of course, I've got to edit it to make it make sense. Its a little disoriented, but it'll be okay by the end. If there's anything you don't understand, just write a review saying how bad it is, and I'll fix it. I promise! **

**Well, I might as well get it started. First, let me say a couple things. Like: **

**Disclaimer: I really, honestly, don't own these guys, or digimon, or any rights whatsoever, I just really fell in love with the characters. **

**Second thing I've got to say: The really strange things that I just felt like doing may be really ridiculous, and stupid, but I enjoyed doing them, and I think that you'll find that even though its really weird, its cool. So, don't like... get mad at me. I have to remind you, it was all written when I was bored, and just writing a story for my sister.**

**So here goes nothing!**

** Chapter One**

** The Kidnapping  
**

Takato Matsuda was walking home from school. If he hadn't been preoccupied with thoughts about his mountanous load of homework, he would not have been surprised when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He stopped walking long enough to pull his cell phone out of his pocket before continuing his walk home. It was vibrating loudly, and he frowned at it, annoyed. The vibrating had startled him, and he ususally didn't like to be startled. "What is it," he asked aloud, flipping it open and glancing at the screen. It was a text message from Jeri. His annoyed mood banished instantly and he grinned. A message from Jeri! That was always exciting! It didn't matter how many years it had been since he first told her he liked her. His feelings had remained the same, if not intensified as she had matured into a gorgeous, popular, 17-year old. Eagerly, he slowed his walk to make sure he could read the message, and not walk into the middle of the street while doing so.

"Hey Takato!" it read, "Meet me at the streetlight in front of the bakery. I have a surprise for you!" Takato nearly melted right there. A surprise? What kind of surprise? He hurried up, hoping he could get there faster. "I'm coming," he wrote enthusiastically. "What surprise?" "You'll see," was all she would say. It was enough to drive him crazy. He skipped down the road…almost…more like fast-walked, and wondered how quickly he could walk 23 blocks. Five minutes? Probably more like 30. Oh well, he'd get there.

A car screeched to a stop around the corner from him, and a shot rang out down the alleyway. The noise caught Takato completely off guard, and he froze, terrified. What on earth was happening here?

"Quit struggling with that thing, will you?" someone whispered loudly, sounding annoyed. He sounded dangerous too.

"Who are you calling a 'thing' huh?" someone protested. Whoever it was who had protested was silenced with what clearly sounded like a whack to the head with something hard.

"Shut up if you know what's good for you!" the first voice warned.

Takato knew he should probably do something. He knew he should call the police, knew he should go get help, but something…shock maybe…drove him to quietly walk forward to see what was happening. He inched forward walking toward the alleyway until he could see down it. What he saw transfixed him; he couldn't move, he could only stand there and watch like a dummy.

Two people, covered in what looked like ninja outfits were beating and tying up something that looking like a cross between a fox and a wolf. (Maybe just a dog with a foxtail and black-tipped ears.) It was struggling profusely, giving one of the ninjas considerable trouble. The ninjas were heavily armed, and were trying to bag the animal and stick it in their limo. Takato watched them dazedly, too confused to know what to do. By the time it occurred to him that he should get out of sight and call the police, it was too late. One of them spotted him.

"Hey," the ninja hissed, producing all kinds of weaponry ready to fire at Takato. "What are you doing over there?"

Takato gulped, aware that he was shaking. He couldn't move. The second ninja managed to bag the creature, and stood watching Takato as well. The first one continued talking. "Come here," he commanded, pointing his various weapons at Takato's face. Helpless, Takato stayed where he was. _I can't move, _his mind screamed. His knees buckled and he tried to remain standing. All thoughts about meeting Jeri at the streetlight vanished as he wondered if he would die here and now. What would happen if they killed him? Would anyone know?

Suddenly, the second ninja smiled through his mask. It was a fake smile. "Awe man," he said to his companion. "You're freaking the kid out with your dog-catching weapons. Come on kid. Wanna see the dog we caught? This little bugger's been raiding people's houses. They call us experts for complicated jobs like this one. Come on over, we wont hurt you."

Takato knew he shouldn't go near them. He lifted his cell phone slowly, taking a step away from them.

"I said come here boy," the second ninja insisted, a little more sinister now. He took a step forward. "Don't make me force you."

Takato shook his head silently, praying that they wouldn't shoot him. His thumb dialed 9-1-1…

_Come here, _the ninja commanded, this time sounding like he was inside Takato's head. Unable to refuse the order even though he wanted to, Takato walked forward. The first ninja used a knife to rid Takato of his school bag, and forcibly knocked the cell phone to the ground. Before he knew what was going on, he was gagged and bound, and thrust into the back of the limo with the bagged creature.

(-------------)

"Are you sure we should be kidnapping someone?" the first ninja asked as they hopped into the vehicle. He strapped the kidnapped kid into the seat and pointed a gun at his head. He probably didn't have to, considering the kid was so shocked he couldn't hardly breath. Still, he was a little on edge. The kid wasn't supposed to be able to see them.

"Are you kidding?" The second ninja cackled with satisfaction. The cackle was a little unnerving to all members of the party in the limo. "It's exactly what we need. With these digital shields, nothing can detect or see us. But somehow, he could. By the look in his eyes, he could see the creature too!"

"I was wondering why you mentioned it." The first ninja glanced at the kid, wondering. Could this kid actually see through their digital shields? The sheilds that were supposed to make them invisible?

"This kid may be the key we're looking for." The second ninja was unable to mask his delight under his black mask.

"How can you be sure? He was just a passerby! He could be anyone! Our shields could be malfunctioning."

"You know that's not true. Think about what the boss said…"

"Hang on, maybe we should knock him out. You don't want him hearing all this do you?"

"Good point."

The second ninja, sitting in the front seat next to the first ninja—who was driving—reached back and promptly knocked out the kidnapped boy.

(------------)

"All I heard was barking. You're saying the kid can understand this fox-dog thing?"

_Someone is talking, someone I've heard before. Where am I? Ow my head! I remembering being kidnapped and knocked out... but where am I now?  
_

"I read his mind. This creature can understand us, and talk back to us. The only way we can hear what it's saying is through this kid."

"So you read his mind when the dog talks, and find out what it's saying? Big whoop! Who cares about some stupid red dog?"

"I'm not stupid, stupid." A voice, that sounded like the animal the ninjas had kidnapped retaliated hotly.

_It's that fox thing talking. The ninja's can't understand him…but I can? How can that be? He's speaking clearly...  
_

"Besides," continued the fox's voice. "I'm more brown than red, and more fox than dog. And its not _dog _either. It's WOLF. So shut up and leave me alone. I'm trying to think."

Takato sat up and rubbed his head, opening his eyes. He was sitting in a metal cage, like a caged animal, with handcuffs chaining his left arm to the inside of the cage. How lovely. He looked around and blinked in surprise. He was in a room filled with cages, and most of them were full of animals. He caught sight of the fox, and then turned to see the ninjas sitting at a table playing cards. How typical.

"The reason this is a good find, stupid, is this. It means what the Boss said is true. That kid is a Tamer, and can understand animals. We can use his mind to trick animals into coming right into our arms!"

Takato blinked at the word Tamer, and memories of the time he'd spent with the digimon rushed back into his head. _Wait... how do they know what a Tamer is? Who is this Boss? And what makes them think being a Tamer makes me able to understand animals? I mean, I know I can't. There's a dog that lives next door. I can't understand him..._ he frowned and listened a little closer to their conversation.

"But these aren't regular animals," the first ninja scowled. "One of them gave me a nasty burn, blowing fire out of its mouth! That stupid dog to be precise!"

"Yeah!" the fox barked loudly. "And don't forget I can blow fire on you again! And it's fox, not dog!"

Takato shook his head, trying to clear his fuzzy brain. If he stayed low and pretended to still be asleep, he could keep listening and gain information.

But he was too late.

"Ah, look who's awake," the second ninja, the one who seemed to be able to read minds, grinned and walked up to the caged. "You like you're new room?"

Takato said nothing. He was still afraid of what this man might do, especially now that he knew he could read and control minds. How that was possible, he had no idea. But he didn't want to find out any more about it.

"Well, you'll get used to it. And don't be afraid of me. I'm not going to use your mind just yet, without permission." The ninja cackled evilly and walked back to the table, leaving Takato to shiver quietly, wondering what on earth he had gotten himself into, and how on earth he was supposed to get out.

(------------------)

(**Change of Character: To Kouji Minamoto. There was a time I thought you spelled his name as just Koji, but I quickly discovered my mistake. However, when I write notes to my sister, I still write it that way because it's easier. Heh heh. I'll write it correctly here for all of you fellow fans out there. **)

Kouji Minamoto walked quickly down the street, not quite sure where he was going. Something had been bothering him. Lately, strange text messages kept arriving on his cell phone from untraceable sources, containing coded messages. And then, one day, his phone changed into his old D-tector, which he had almost forgotten what it looked like. This was shocking, but even more shocking when he found out that now he could read the encoded messages. What he found out from reading them was alarming.

Someone...several people infact... had been contacting him for help. Well, actually, the more correct way to say it would be some"mon" instead of some"one." Digimon were sending him messages for help. He couldn't understand it. Why would they be? was he needed once more at the digital world?

"That was so long ago," he mumbled to himself. "Six years ago in fact. I can hardly remember what it was like! Well, that's not true. I remember perfectly. How could I forget? But still...What am I supposed to do? All I'm getting are calls for help, and no clues. How am I supposed to help them?" he kicked a stone, and found his steps taking him toward the subway station that had once brought him to the digital world. Well, it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

He found himself standing in front of a sweet-smelling bakery, and stood under the lamppost, enjoying the smell. The wonderful smell of fresh bread and pastries was almost soothing, and took his mind off his troubling messages. He stood under the lampost, dreaming about the weekend, wondering if he should try to get together with Takuya again. It was then that he noticed the girl crying.

"Hey what's wrong?" he asked. Suddenly he blinked. "Jeri? Hey, don't you go to my school?" He looked at the girl crying in front of him and frowned slightly. This girl went to his school alright. She was one of the few people that everyone knew, but one of the many people Kouji usually avoided talking to. But he couldn't turn away from a sobbing damsel in distress.

"Oh, you're Takato's friend, aren't you?" she said angrily through her tears. "Well tell him I don't want to see him again."

Kouji blinked in surprise. Takato was also one of the people he knew, but didn't really talk to. Well, that wasn't true. He often found himself paired with Takato in group projects, since the two of them usually ended up in the same classes, but he didn't know him that well. At least, he wasn't one of the people that Takato called his friends. But everyone knew who he was. Everyone knew he was the guy who was in love with Jeri, but too self conscious or shy to ask her out. Curious to find out what had happened, Kouji crossed his arms and stared at her expectantly. "Why?" he asked. "What did he do?"

"He left me waiting for him for two hours!" Jeri practically shouted.

"And you're still waiting? Something must have happened! Did you call the police?" Kouji frowned at her suspiciously. If anything sounded suspicious to him, he just assumed that something criminal had happened. He wasn't always right, but he always acted on his suspicious to find out if they were correct or not before dismissing them. He decided to act on his sneaking suspicion now.

"No." Jeri looked unconvinced. "Why should I?"

"Because I know Takato," Kouji said, thinking that perhaps he didn't know him that well... "...and he wouldn't have kept you waiting if his life depended on it. He told his friend he'd die just to save your life." Kouji frowned. Why would Takato leave the girl he loved waiting unless something happened? Maybe it was just the fact that the help messages had made him really suspicious, but something wasn't right here.

Jeri half smiled, thinking about what Kouji had said. "He did once, almost die to save me." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "I just can't believe he'd forget and leave me here!"

"He didn't. What's his cell phone number?" Kouji was already on top of the situation. He knew that something had happened. Somehow, he just knew. He whipped out his cell phone...er...D-tector, shocking Jeri so much she could hardly give him the number. Kouji dialed it and waited. Somebody answered the phone.

"Hello, this is the police station. Is this the owner of the phone?"

Kouji choked. He may have been suspicious, but he had not expected to hear the police answering the phone. "No," he said finally. "This is the owner's friend. The person you're looking for has gone missing, and we can't find him." Jeri looked at him strangely, but said nothing to the contrary.

"This phone dialed 9-1-1, and was found lying open between Main St. and 52nd. We've been holding it. It wasn't a prank call?"

Kouji turned and gave Jeri a grave expression. "No Officer, my friend Takato Matsuda has been missing for two hours. Hey may have been kidnapped, and dialed 9-1-1 to get help."

"Do you have any evidence of this?"

"Not at the moment, but give me some time and I will." Koji hung up and turned to Jeri. "Go home Jeri. Takato's not coming today. I'm going to go look for him."

"But how do you know he's been kidnapped?" Jeri sobbed, freaked out. "That;s ridiculous! All you do is find out he's kept me waitint two hours, and now you just think he's kidnapped? Just like that? That's stupid! What proof do you have?"

"I just know." Kouji flipped through his help messages until he came upon one he was looking for, and read it. This was the message that had been the most disturbing. It simply read: "They've captured one of us." He had recieved the message about an hour ago, after Takato went missing. What did that mean? Was Takato somehow connected to the Digital world? "Something told me that 'they've captured one of us' and now I think I know what it means." The words were out before Kouji had time to realize he was talking to someone who probably didn't understand. "It means someone has captured either a digimon or a digidestined, and now I know which one. If you'll excuse me."

He ran away like lightning to the site of the kidnapping, looking for clues. Ten minutes later the police came to help. They were not excited in finding out that Kouji's suspicions were more than just a hunch.

They was true.

"But where did they take him?" Kouji mumbled to himself. Time to start looking.

(---------------------)

"I don't get it," Takuya Kanbara mumbled. He stared down at himself as best he could, and groaned. "First, I start getting untraceable text messages. Then, my phone turns into my D-tector. Then, before I know it, Shinya starts playing with my D-tector, and this happens." Takuya stared down at himself. He was a fox with some wolf traits, somehow, that could blow fire. He was a digimon. "This is my beast form or something?" He remembered once upon a time turning into Flamon while he was spirit-evolved in the human world. But now this had happened when his brother had begun to mess with his D-tector. Did his brother somehow manage to make him beast spirit evolve? "I don't think so," he thought to himself. "I would have felt that. That's a little more painful than regular spirit evolving... and besides... I don't think its even possible here. I mean, this world isn't digital, and I don't even have the spirit of Agunimon anymore. So how in the world did this happen?"

He tried desperately to get out of the cage, complaining loudly for a long time, and finally gave up. "This is hopeless!" he concluded. "How on earth am I supposed to get back home? And my head hurts. What did that guy hit me with?"

"Would you quit complaining?" a cat hissed at him. Takuya blinked in surprise. The cat had fiery fur and three tails. WEIRD!

"Sorry," he mumbled. Unsure of what else to say. He shut up for now.

"Thank goodness," the first ninja grumbled. "That noise was getting annoying. What's he doing, trying to bark us to death?"

Takuya growled in annoyance, and wished he could get out. Unfortunately, he couldn't. He was stuck…..for now. Who knew what might happen next?

"I wish Kouji was here," Takuya sighed. "Kouji would probably know what to do. I always end up to be the stupid one in the end. I wish I'd just grow up."

"Yeah me too." The cat curled up in her cage and tried to sleep, snarling at Takuya in the process.

"Watch it, feline," Takuya grumbled quietly. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Who were you talking to then?" sarcastic

"Myself. Now leave me alone and I'll leave you alone." (why did he hate the cat so much? This was so weird.)

"That's a sign of insanity you know…talking to yourself..."

Takuya blew fire on the cat, barking shrilly. The ninjas had to whack him with something to shut him up.

"What's wrong with me?" Takuya thought anxiously. "I'm turning out to be just like an immature digimon!"

A sudden thought stuck him, and he wished it would go away.

Maybe that was exactly what he was at the moment.

(----------------)

** Well, that's all I've got at the moment for you. My "notes" to my sister were often short, and written with days or weeks in between them, and sometimes I have to change the story so that it makes sense to you guys. I mean, it makes sense to us, but then... you guys have to understand too. **

** Oh! Wanna see something funny? Haha! It's hilarious, but its also kind of embarassing. See, when I would write notes to my sister, she would write little "comments" on the notes in a different color font, kind of making fun of my story. Sometimes, her comments are so good, we can't stop laughing. Would you like to see part of the original note, with the ridiculous comments, just to see how she can twist the story into ridiculous fairy tales or sarcasms that are...well... awesome? Cuz if you do, just let me know with a review or something. If you guys really want to see it, I'll put it at the beginning of the next chapter. I kind of have to find the next chapter though... so hang on for a bit!**

** I hope this isn't too stupid to read. Thanks for taking your time to read it anyway! Tell me what I need to fix to make it clearer!**


	2. The Mystery In Question

**Well you all out there, thanks for reading this! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did when I first wrote it and showed it to Tasha, my sister. She rocks. Well, I have decided to not put up the comments that were up here originally. They take away from the story. So I'll just leave it like it is.  
**

**Oh yes. **

**Disclaimer: I seriously do not own Digimon or its characters, but I thank the creators every day for giving me awesome characters to write fan fiction about.**

**(-----------)**

Takato stared out of his cage, his situation now fully dawning on him. He was kidnapped, by ninjas, who also seemed to be poachers. This whole warehouse-like room was filled with cages full of animals. Takato didn't consider himself an animal, but here he was, in a cage anyway. He had also been noticing the fox-wolf-thing that could blow fire. It was beginning to worry him. Nobody needed to tell him it was a digimon. he could see that clearly. What were the ninjas doing kidnapping digimon? And what was the digimon doing on earth in the first place?

His memory flashed back to when he first encountered digimon. Could that be happening again? The situation couldn't be good if the digimon were already being kidnapped. Curious to find out how many digimon there were, Takato scanned the room again. He couldn't tell really, since he was kind of handcuffed to the back of the cage, but it looked like at least half of the animals could be digimon.

Then the other problem presented itself to his mind. How did they know he was a Tamer? How was this "Boss" that knew everything? He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

"When is he supposed to get here?" the first ninja--who had taken off his mask and was toying with a gun in his hands--stared at the door with an impatient look on his face. "I don't like waiting forever."

"Nobody waits forever, logically," the second ninja replied cooly. He had opted to keep his mask on, and was watching his companion with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Oh shut up!"

The two stared at each other silently for several more minutes, before the second ninja got bored. He rose from his chair, dropping the cards he was playing with on the table, and walked over to Takato's cage. "So hows our little prisoner? Do you like it in there?"

Takato glared at him, considering retorting with something like "yeah its great." But he decided not to. He stuck with silence instead.

"I'll bet you have several questions you'd like to ask, don't you?" The ninja grinned under his mask.

"But of course you would already know, because you can read my mind, can't you?" Takato blurted before remembering he had wanted to keep quiet. Oh well. "That's a little unfair."

"It's not like I can help it."

"Oh reeeally? Tell me about it." Takato found himself disliking this paticular ninja more every second for some weird reason. He couldn't explain it, but he felt creeped out by him. "How is it that you can read my mind? And exactly how can you control it?"

"It's not really controlling, its more like giving your brain suggestions. If they are powerful enough, you end up doing what I suggest before you notice what is going on. Its a handy little trick I picked up."

"So I noticed." Takato made a face. "But that doesn't tell me _how _you do it."

"No it doesn't." the ninja shrugged. "But lets just say I was born this way."

Takato thought about this, as a shiver went down his back. Up till now, he'd never believed in mental telepathy. At least, not for humans. He had considered the possibility that digimon could probably do it. At least some of them. But humans? No way! So how could this man do it? Unless... he wasn't human?

The glint in the ninja's eyes indicated that he had followed Takato's train of thought, and seemed pleased with his suspicion.

"Stop it," Takato growled, suddenly becoming protective. "Stop doing that."

"What's your name kid?" the ninja ignored his demand and leaned against the cage. "Maybe I've heard of you."

"I'm not telling you! And where would you have heard of me anyway?" Takato glared at him angrily. "Why don't you just leave me alone! Besides. You can read my mind! You probably already know who I am! And anyway, I don't like you, and I don't like getting kidnapped, and I don't like..."

"Shut up kid," the first ninja, still sitting at the table, shouted over to where Takato was locked up. "You're getting annoying. You wouldn't like to see me annoyed."

"You already are annoyed," the telepathic ninja rolled his eyes. He glanced back at Takato and grinned under his mask. "And just so you know, it doesn't matter whether you like this situation or not. If our Boss likes it that we kidnapped you, you stay. If he doesn't, you go. So just sit tight and shut up till he gets here."

Takato glared at him, clenching his hand into a fist. He wished he could punch him in the face. Everything about this situation was infurating, and not to mention scary. Yes he was scared of what might happen to him, but he was more angry at the ninja who was reading his mind and mocking him. He hoped the Boss, whoever he was, would decide that kidnapping Takato was a mistake, and let him go. He also hoped the ninjas would get punished or something for kidnapping him in the first place.

And then he remembered.

"Oh no," he whispered to himself with a groan. "Jeri!"

(------------)

Kouji stared at the street blindly, trying to think about what was going on. It was all too confusing. There were too many question, too many mysteries, and not enough answers. The only thing he knew for sure was that someone, probably a digidestined, had been kidnapped. He assumed that digimon had been captured as well, but where and when, whether it be here on earth, or back on their own planet, he had no idea.

"Why don't you give me any answers?" he shouted at his D-tector. He wanted to throw it at something in frustration, but he knew that would be foolish. He knew shouting at it was foolish too, but it felt good to get rid of some of some of that tension. "Its not fair. Why do I have to be alone in this? I know the police can't help, but where's everyone else? Where's Takuya when I finally need him?"

But there was no answer to anything he asked or said. He was completely alone.

"There's nothing for it then, but to just start looking for answers." Koji sighed and looked again at the evidence he had. Takato's phone on this junction. He had called 9-1-1 just before he disappeared. And the misterious messages he kept getting, specifically the one that said "They've captured one of us...". What did it all add up to? Takato is kidnapped.

"This is getting nowhere!" Kouji declaired. "I'm no detective!"

"Did you just say detective?" someone asked him from behind. Kouji turned around to find himself staring at a pair of boys his age grinning at him. The two of them looked like they'd never been apart, and seemed so different from each other it seemed weird that they were friends. Kouji recognized them instantly. Everyone at school knew Kazu and Kenta, the two most ridiculous boys in school. Kazu was tall and thin, with an extremely outgoing personality. He often did and said ridiculous things, and always made Kenta join him in his ridiculous activities. Kenta on the other hand, was shorter, and although just as ridiculous as Kazu, he was shy and self conscious about talking to people. Well, that wasn't all the way true. He was fine most of the time. It was just when he was talking to girls that he became shy. It was just something that had happened since he entered puberty.

"What do you two want?" Kouji groaned. He had a sneaking suspicion that they were going to suggest themselves as detectives to help him out.

"Well," Kazu grinned excitedly.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "I knew it. Look, thanks for the offer, but you two are not what I'd call the greatest detectives ever. In fact, you probably couldn't even tell me where to go from here, which is what I need to know. And besides..."

"Actually Kouji," Kenta cut in bravely, "were weren't going to suggest ourselves as detectives! We already tried that once...it was Kazu's idea... and we weren't very goo..."

"We're actually going to recomend someone we know to help you out." Kazu cut off Kenta and grabbed Kouji's arm. "Come one! I'll introduce you to him! He's the greatest! He's the only one I go to when a mystery presents itself. He can solve anything!"

"Yeah, well I doubt he could help me here." Kouji pulled away. "Thanks though. I'll just do this on my own. I work better that way anyway."

A sudden vibrating in his hand alerted him, and he stared down at his D-tector in surprise. He instantly forgot to hide it from Kazu and Kenta when he read the message that had just popped up. He stared at it long enough to have read it six or seven times slowly. It simply said:

"Go with them Kouji."

Kouji stuffed his D-tector in his pocket and looked up at Kazu and Kenta. "Alright," he said. "Lead the way."

(------------)

Takuya watched the other animals in the cages around him with growing interest. It seemed that in every cage was a mixed breed of animals. Some seemed fairly normal, while others seemed so strange they couldn't be from earth. For instance, the cat he had just recently been arguing with was like unlike any cat he had ever seen. It had to be a digimon. He couldn't think of anything else it could be. Another animal that had caught his attention was in a cage that was separate from the others. The cage was extra strong, and there was no object anywhere close to it. It had taken a while to see what animal was hidden in the armored cage, but now that he had seen it, Takuya wanted nothing more than to talk to it to find out how it had gotten there.

The animal was a slim, small feline that was completely black. Its eyes were huge and green, and were the only thing he could see on its face besides its long whiskers. Its tail was so long, it looked like a whip. And it was thick and furry, thicker than its stalky and muscular legs. The thing that made it the most terrifying were it claws, which were huge and looked razor sharp.

"I'm sure glad I've never encountered that animal before," Takuya thought with a chuckle. "I wouldn't have lasted long if it decided it didn't like me." He watched it pace the cage angrily, growling and hissing, and debated whether or not to call out to him. Finally, being the kind of person he was, he decided to do it.

"Um, hey there, you over there in that big cage. Yeah, you, mister black cat! My name is Takuya, and I was just wondering..."

The cat hissed loudly, tearing and thrashing at his cage as if he wanted to rip Takuya to pieces.

"Well, um... okay. I'll just... stop talking to you then. But if you ever want to chat, I'm here!"

"You're an idiot," the two-tailed cat hissed. "Don't bother him. He's been in that mood since he got here, and so far any attempt to talk to him makes him more mad."

"I just wanted to talk to him," Takuya frowned defensively. "I'm interested to find out how he got captured. Where did they find him? And what kind of creature is he?"

"You're more an idiot than I thought," the cat stared at him as if he was stupid. "He's the same kind of creature as you, blockhead! He probably got captured the same way."

Takuya laughed. "Ha! I seriously doubt that..." He had a momentary flashback to when he had gotten captured. Shinya had just turned him into an animal while playing with his D-tector, and out of sheer shock, Takuya had ran out of the house onto the street and tried to hide. The last thing he needed was his mom to see him like this. He had practically run right into their arms. "No, I'm sure he was much more cunning than me, and had probably fought back much harder."

"That's for sure."

Takuya watched the cat pacing back and forth, whipping its tail out of the cage as if trying to grap something. "Same kind of creature as me eh? hmm." He thought about this a moment, and then decided that his guess was correct. These were captured digimon, who for some reason, took a different form here on the human world. How it had worked out that way, he had no idea. He had originally thought that digimon still looked like themselves, no matter where they were. But all of these digimon looked like animals from earth. They looked more...real. That was the word. The didn't look digital.

"I wonder if that's what happened," he wondered aloud. "Have they all been captured and de-digital-ized? Is that even possible? Are these digimon who are just not digital anymore?" He frowned. Something strangely out of place was going on, and he didn't have enough answers. "Who is this "Boss" those ninjas keep refering too? I'm getting the feeling I'm not going to like him at all."

The two-tailed cat stared at Takuya strangely, then ignored him completely. Takuya didn't care. He had more important things to figure out than how to argue the feline in the cage next to him. He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice when the black cat stopped pacing to stare at him quietly, a strange expression written in his eyes.

(-----------)

**Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to end now. All this editing is hurting my back. Ugh. So, I hope I am not writing way too confusing stuff! Seriously you guys, I need to know if there's something I need to change. Anything. I am too tired to fix it now. So if something just doesn't make sense, or if I wrote the same word twice, (example: Takuya said said this) then I probably wont even know till a while later. I have a ton of school to worry about.**

**So, good night, and enjoy! **


	3. What Is The Truth?

I'm here again. Thanks for the review Dragi or kill! I'm glad you like it! Although, Takuya isn't exactly Flamon. He's more like a beast-from of Flamon. He's not entirely sure how that happened.

**Well, I can't find the comments my sister wrote because half of my files are on a different computer, so this time I'm just heading straight to the story. You all probably didn't think much of that anyway. It was just me being random. But I love randomness! **

**Note To Readers: Please forgive me if this story is just too ridiculous to enjoy! I wrote it when I was very bored. And I wrote it maybe a year ago. So I'll try to fix it up for you as best I can! Oh, and about the cat in the cage next to Takuya, its not a two-tailed cat. I made a mistake. It's a three-tailed cat. (for all of you who care…)**

**Disclaimer: Digimon….sadly….is not mine. Nor are any of the characters. But I am always thankful that it was created, and that people don't mind if I write my own silly stories about it. So if you sue me for trying to steal the characters, then…. Well, I'm not trying to steal them. Just play around with them a little bit!**

**Enough talk, lets go.**

**(---------)**

"These handcuffs are beginning to cut into my skin," Takato said, speaking to nobody in particular. He was sure that the evil ninjas who had captured him could understand his thoughts anyway, so why try to hide them? "And this cage is cramped. I wish I could stand up."

"I wish I could leave," the ninja with the gun in his hands paced the warehouse impatiently. "I also wish you would shut up."

"Why? I'm not doing any harm…" Takato glared at him, and tried his best to be annoying. "If you would just let me out so I can stand up I'll be quiet."

"Oh yeah, like I'm that stupid." The ninja rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

Takato gave up being annoying and tried to think of a plan of action. Pretty soon—whatever soon meant—the Boss of this whole operation would be coming to decide whether Takato could go free or not. The telepathic ninja seemed to think that this Boss would be pleased with his capture. Thankfully, right before the kidnapping, Takato had dialed 9-1-1. So the police were coming.

Except…

_Who am I kidding? The police will just find a cell phone lying on the street, and wont have any idea who left it or how to follow it! I'm pretty much on my own. _Takato shivered, even though he wasn't cold. He hated the thought of being left alone in an animal cage with two creepy guards—one who wanted to shoot him, and the other who wanted to grin in his face and read his mind. He hated that one more…

A strange noise brought Takato out of his musings, and he turned to look at the cage near him. Inside it, the reddish fox—that looked too much like a digimon to be normal—was frantically running back and forth, chattering to itself as if it had just discovered something important. It was making quite a bit of noise, and most of what it said was nonsense, but something about the situation seemed strangely suspicious. As if he were trying to get a message across without actually speaking. Either that, or it was just stupid. Curious, Takato watched and listened, and tried to make out what it was saying.

He couldn't understand a word of it.

Resigned, Takato turned his attentions somewhere else. Or he tried to. The fox was being way too distracting. _This is insane, _he thought. _Why wont it shut up? _

The pacing ninja shortly could take no more of it. He rushed up to the cage and pointed the gun at it, yelling as loud as he could to either shut its mouth or die.

The fox stopped and stared at the man with an expression like a sneaky grin on its face. "That's a fallacy," it stated simply. "A False Dilemma to be precise. You can't assume my only options are to either shut my mouth or die. On the contrary, I could choose a third choice. For instance, I could quiet down…. Heh heh!" it snickered mischievously.

The ninja stared down at the fox, his eyes wide in held back anger and annoyance. (He wasn't very good at holding back these emotions, Takato noticed). "I don't know what it said," he growled, "but I'd swear it was trying to talk back."

"It's making fun of you," The other ninja, sitting placidly at the table chuckled in amusement.

"What did it say?"

"I don't know. Ask the kid."

"You ask him! You're the one who can read his mind!"

The telepathic ninja glanced at Takato doubtfully, and shook his head. "He's not thinking about it, at the moment," he replied.

"Well that's stupid. What good is reading his mind then?"

"You're not much help are you? And anyway, the beast is taking up its antics again. I'd appreciate it if you managed to shut it up."

"Oh I'll make it quiet alright…" the ninja pointed his gun at the fox and cocked it.

Takato suddenly tensed. He, being a Tamer and saver of the digital world, could not sit by idly and let a digimon get killed. He didn't know exactly what to do to keep it from getting shot, so he decided to try a bluff. "Hey!" he called loudly. "What do you think you're doing? That one is important!" he tried not to look like he was lying and frowned angrily at the man. "If you kill him…" he trailed off.

Both ninjas were standing. "If we kill him, then what?" the telepathic ninja grinned eagerly. He turned and winked to his companion. "Told ya kidnapping this one would pay off. Alright kid, tell us what you know."

Takato gulped and wondered if what he had just done was more foolish than it needed to be. He glanced at the fox digimon, and noticed a mixed look of both gratitude and exasperation on its face. The ninjas walked up to the cage and glared (well, one glared, the other grinned) down at him.

"Come on kid," the grinning ninja prompted. "I wouldn't want to have to force it out of you now would I?"

Takato felt himself break out into a sweat. Now what?

(-------)

Takuya watched the masked man in the ninja outfit carefully. He was sitting at the table, seemingly preoccupied with watching his companion pace the room. But the way his eyes kept shifting to-and-fro affirmed his suspicions that he was also watching the captured digimon. This would seem to be no problem, except that some digimon, namely the small rat-like one, were busy trying to use their tails and claws as a way to pick the lock on the cage. If the ninja noticed, there wouldn't be any way of escaping.

_If one of us gets free, there's a way to escape and get help! I don't know if these digimon are only thinking of themselves, or if they'd find a way to help each other, but I still think the more escaping the better. If I could provide a distraction, then maybe at least one could get free!_

Takuya hated to be totally obnoxious. Kouji always said he was anyway, but he never considered that fair. He could be smart and careful when he put his mind to it. Maybe he was kind of a hot-head…he'd admit that…but he wasn't obnoxious. At least, he didn't think of himself as that way. But situations like these often called for drastic measures, and this seemed to be one of those times.

He yawned and stretched and turned to the cage next to him. "Pssst!" he whispered. He was eyeing the sitting ninja, measuring his moves. Hopefully he couldn't hear him… "I'm going to create a distraction. If anyone here thinks they can sneak out of their cage but hasn't had the opportunity, now would be the time. Can you pass that along?"

The three-tailed cat blinked lazily, and nodded. She'd pass the message.

Takuya took this opportunity without a second wasted, and began running around his cage frantically. He tried to look like a stupid animal trying to have fun by chasing himself around the cage, and then decided some noise would help too. But what kind of noise? He pondered for a moment what would be most annoying, and then decided to try saying the tongue twisters he knew as fast as he could. Alright. He'd give it a shot.

"Betty Botter bought some butter. 'But,' she said, 'the butter's bitter! If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter, better than my bitter butter, it would make my batter better!' So she bought a bit of butter better than her bitter butter and she put it in her batter and the batter was not bitter so twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter!" he grinned to himself. That was his favorite tongue twister. And better yet, he had learned it in English from his language class. He prided himself on being able to speak an English tongue twister so well.

"Let's try a couple more," he spoke to himself more than anything else. He noticed the rat taking frantic action to get the cage free, and hoped it would be able to do it. He started to shout louder.

"As I Sit in Sullen Silence on a Dull Dark Dock; Awaiting the Sensation of a Short Sharp Shock; In a Pestilential Prison with a Life Long Lock…" he forgot what came next, so he moved onto something else. (He noticed with satisfaction that both ninjas were eying him closely, as if trying to decipher what he was up to. Both looked thoroughly annoyed, and were paying attention to nothing else). "The big black bug bit the big black bear and big black bled blood!" he repeated that one several times, louder each time, and ended by ramming himself against the cage door loudly.

"I'VE HAD IT!" The pacing ninja had rushed to the cage, practically seething with anger and annoyance. "You've got two choices you little beast! Either you shut your mouth, or DIE!" he ended his sentence by pointing his gun in Takuya's face.

Takuya grinned. He knew perfectly well this man couldn't understand him, but he decided to play "intelligent animal" for a little bit to see if he could mock the man anyway. "That's a fallacy," he stated importantly. "A False Dilemma to be precise." He briefly explained why he figured this was a fallacy, and chuckled loudly. Anyone and anything could tell he was laughing at the frustrated man before him. He knew the ninja could tell he was mocking him.

The man attempted—and failed—to hold back his building up rage. He whirled to his companion sitting peacefully at the table, and exploded on him. Takuya chuckled again. This was exactly what he wanted. He chanced a glance toward the rat, and noticed with satisfaction that it had succeeded in opening the cage, and was trying to sneak out of it discretely. He ran around the cage again, and hoped it would be able to escape before….

"Hey!" The kidnapped boy around Takuya's age shouted loudly. Takuya looked up and suddenly noticed the gun in his face, cocked and ready. The ninja's finger twitched eagerly, as if dying to just pull the trigger and forever silence the annoying fox. "What do you think you're doing? That one is important!" The captive frowned angrily. "If you kill him…" he trailed off suddenly, and his face went white. He was obviously hiding something.

Both ninjas were suddenly fixed on their captive. They walked toward him, pushing him to tell them why Takuya was so important. Takuya groaned.

_Thanks a lot kid, _he thought. _Now, not only are you in danger, but I am too! They're going to think both you and I are really important, and then we'll never get to escape. I appreciate you saving my life and all though…. _He sighed and tried to think of a second plan.

"Takuya."

Takuya suddenly jerked his head up in alarm and stared around the room. Who here would know who he was?

"I thought so." The voice was low, almost a hiss, and seemed to be coming from the dark corner where the black cat was penned up.

Takuya turned to stare at the cat, and his eyes widened. This cat was very familiar somehow… "Who are you? How do you know me? Oh, and hey! You're talking to me! This feline here said you wouldn't..."

"Keep quiet. They're occupied right now. But don't draw their attention back to you." The cat glanced warily at his captors and then back at Takuya. "I am JagerLowemon. Or at least…I was not too long ago."

"You're…." Takuya suddenly brightened. "You're the spirit of darkness?"

"Yes….and no. It's a little bit complicated to understand." JagerLowemon growled deep in his throat, seemingly annoyed, and glared at his cage in defiance. "All I can say right now is that we all are in great danger. Humans have found a way to capture beast-type digimon, and get money off of us. These particular humans we are with are not going to sell us, however. They _bought _us, for some other purpose. I don't like it any more than I like being separated from Lowemon."

"You're separated?" Takuya frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means the human-form and beast-from of the spirit of darkness were separated into two different beings. But we need each other. Being separated is starting to have its affect on me." JagerLowemon sighed and lay down. "But that isn't what I wanted to speak to you about."

"Well…. What is?"

"We need to figure out a way to solve this problem."

"Obviously! That's all you wanted to say?"

"Keep your voice down! You always were too impatient to heed the things that are important!" Jagerlowemon growled. "Listen. This problem is not just about digimon being captured, its about how they're getting captured!"

Takuya tried to think of something to say, and finally said, "how are they getting captured?"

JagerLowemon sighed, and shook his head. "I don't know exactly, but I will tell you this: there isn't just one digital world."

"What do you mean?"

"There's two. Both are in different dimensions. Somehow, humans created and maintanged a direct link to the digital world, and the result was so disastrous, it caused both digital worlds to merge together. What we have now are two worlds fighting over the right to exists. One is ours, the one we've always known, and one is the other one. They're both digital, but they're both different. And many digimon are so traumatized by their homes being destroyed and rebuilt into totally different areas, that they escape to the only other place they can."

Takuya nodded. "Here," he said slowly. It was starting to make sense….. a little. Well, in truth, it didn't make much sense at all. But somehow, it fit. That was all Takuya needed. "Then they get captured and sold, until someone who is actually a threat gets a whole lot of them and starts…..starts to do something with them."

"We have yet to find out what that something is."

"What do we do now? Are the rest of the Legendary Warriors separated like you?"

"I don't know. While we were fighting to protect our world from being erased and replaced by this new world, some of us got sucked into the area where the two worlds join and separate. I was one of them. I was separated from my human-from, and thrown onto your world. I'm sure something of the same happened to the rest."

"Do you think you'll…" Takuya gulped, "ever get yourself… how do I say this… back together again?"

"I'm not sure."

This wasn't sounding good at all. Not at all. Then something occurred to him. "JagerLowemon, my phone turned into my D-tector again. How did that happen? And what did my brother do to me when he was playing with it to turn me into this?"

JagerLowemon looked at Takuya thoughtfully. "I do know that your phones—if you kept them—would automatically turn back into D-tectors if it was necessary, so I'm sure they did that by themselves. As for how you got this way…." He grinned slightly. "There was a last minute gift we Legendary Warriors gave to you, to thank you for helping us. We didn't know what might come in the future, so we gave you a means to protect yourself against digital threats."

Takuya sighed. "It's been _some help. _Hasn't it?"

"Blame Agunimon, not me. He's the one who gave you Flamon."

Takuya blinked. "But I'm not Flamon….I'm like… a beast-type of digimon."

"Flamon can slide just as easily as Agunimon can." JagerLowemon looked unimpressed with Takuya's inability to figure that one out. "You can change into Flamon by your D-tector if you need to."

"Or by accident," Takuya interjected. A thought suddenly dawned on him. "So, I could change back to myself anytime I wanted?"

"Perhaps. But I don't think you'll be wanting to do that right now."

Takuya looked around him, and realized he was in a cage much too small for himself as a human to fit in. He grinned sheepishly. "Heh heh. I guess I'll just have to wait."

"And try to figure out who our enemy is. We must stop this at all costs if we want both our worlds to survive."

Takuya frowned. "What do you mean both our worlds?"

(-------)

Kouji followed Kazu and Kenta to a normal-looking house. They knocked, and were told to enter, so they pulled Kouji inside. "Come one," Kazu said cheerfully. "Ikeda will know how to help you!"

Kouji followed them doubtfully. He glanced down at his D-tector and wondered who was on the other line, giving him directions. He suddenly found himself in a kitchen, where a young man was chopping vegetables at a counter. Kouji studied him. He was not very tall, and he looked like he couldn't be older than 25. His hair was a dark brown that was cropped short and messily. He wore thin-rimmed glasses, and a long sleeve shirt to go with his jeans. He turned and bowed to his company with a smile on his face.

"Hello Kaz-kun; Ken-kun." He didn't stop cutting vegetables. "Who is your friend? And how can I help?"

"Hi Ikeda-san," Kazu bowed swiftly in return. "This is Kouji Minamoto. Kouji, this is Ikeda Shioda. He's my cousin." Kazu beamed. "Kouji has a little detective problem he needs help with, and I told him you could help him!"

Ikeda finished chopping his vegetables and cleaned up the cutting board. "Very well. Come and join me for lunch, and we'll talk about it. That is, if you wouldn't mind," he bowed to Kouji.

"I guess not," Kouji was still skeptical, but he allowed himself to be led to a table with Kazu and Kenta, while Ikeda prepared a quick lunch of stir fry and ramen.

"Now," Ikeda smiled at Kouji. "What seems to be the trouble?"

Kouji stared around him at the three other people seated at the table. It suddenly occurred how ridiculous it was to tell them about digimon being captured. He wasn't entirely sure that was what was going on, but he knew digimon were involved somehow. He couldn't betray the digital world and tell these people able it! He shook his head, ashamed at himself for even thinking of trusting them with something so beyond them.

"I'm sorry," Kouji finally said. "I think maybe I'm taking up your time. It's just a small problem, and it's not really important. I don't really need help, I was just talking to myself and these two overheard." He made a mental note to never talk to himself out loud ever again. "I really should go. But thank you for your concern." He stood up, bowed, and left, leaving the three at the table staring after him.

_I need to do this on my own, _he thought determinedly. _I can't let something happen to people who don't even know anything about the digital world. It's not fair to them. And its not safe for the digimon. _

He heard someone running to catch up behind him, and quickened his pace. He strategically pretended to turn down a street, and doubled back on himself to enter a shop instead. It was a flower shop, and had plenty of displays for him to hide behind. Kazu and Kenta rushed past, pointing the way they thought he had gone, and Kouji watched them go. Good. He didn't want to worry about careless followers on this dangerous mission.

"Can I help you?" a lady asked cheerfully. Kouji turned to find a young woman smiling sweetly at him. "We have flowers for every occasion here!"

Kouji blinked and stared at her, his eyes widening as he suddenly realized where he was. It was the exact same flower shop as the one he'd been in six years ago, when he first got the message to go to the digital world. The realization washed over him, leaving him staring blankly at the flower-girl, until he noticed his D-tector buzzing. He pulled it out of his pocket warily, almost afraid to read what it said.

_Why did you leave, Kouji? _A message asked. Kouji stared at it blankly. It vanished, and another one flashed in to take its place. _I need you to help me. But you can't do it alone. Go back to Ikeda Kouji, or I'll be forced to turn to someone else._

Kouji bit his lip, and stuck the D-tector in his pocket. "Excuse me," he mumbled, leaving the shop and rushing back where he'd come from. He found the house and entered, walking through the kitchen to the dining room. Ikeda was sitting at the table quietly, watching Kouji with a look that said he'd been waiting for Kouji to come back.

"Well?" Ikeda asked gently.

Kouji sighed, and sat down, pulling out his D-tector. He handed it to Ikeda and showed him the several help-messages he'd received. He also handed him the notes he'd taken about Takato's supposed kidnapping. "So," he said quietly. "What does it mean?"

Ikeda glanced through the information before him slowly, and then frowned. "It means trouble," he muttered, leaving the table to get a pen and notepad. "You're going to have to explain a few things to help me discover the truth that's hidden here."

Kouji paled. He knew it would come to something like this. "Like what?" he asked.

Ikeda glanced up at him unemotionally. "Like about your adventure in the digital world. There's only so much I know, and I need to know more if you want me to help you."

Kouji sighed. Then he started telling. It dawned on him as he spoke that he'd never told anyone about it. Ever. He wondered if he could remember it all.

_Yes, _he thought to himself. _I remember it like it was yesterday. How could I possibly forget?_

(------------)

That's all I have time for today! And for a while. Who knows. I might get lucky and find time during the week. But school comes first.

**Once again, please review! Reviews that give me ideas or corrections are the best! I couldn't survive without them! This story was written a while ago, yes, but I am fixing it up as I go. And not only that, but I never wrote the ending. So new ideas will be considered. However, I'm pretty sure I remember where I was going with this. Lol.**

**Until next time!**

**rika195**


	4. The Trouble With Midias

Hi everyone. Sorry for taking so long to update. I really just got excited about my other story "Frontier Meets Everyone Else" and forgot about the rest. But here you go, for those of you who actually read this besides me and my sister.

Yeah, I know, the whole comments thing by Tasha got annoying. I'm sorry. But when you write something specifically _for _someone, you do your best to add all the things that would make it exactly what that person wants to see. And well, knowing Tasha, I know she likes it when I add her comments. Cuz to her, they're the funniest thing she's ever read. All I need is just one reader to like it, that's all.

And you guys have all been so kind to me too! Thanks for reading, and thanks for reviewing! I do my best to get it off of other computers, edit it, and get it up here. Please bear with the ridiculousness of it.

And now for replies.

Earthpaw….: (sigh) First, let me once more get this straight. Takuya is my all-time favorite character in all of Digimon. All the goggle-heads are, for some strange reason I can't even place. Maybe it's just because I can make fun of them. But please note, I LOVE him. He's the coolest. Tasha, on the other hand, whom this story was originally written for, thinks Takuya is stupid and pretty much shares your opinion of him. That he's a geek and a dork and an idiot, and Kouji way tops him in more than a million ways. Second, Takato does not turn into a halfdigimon halfanimal because he doesn't have guilmon, and he can't. He doesn't. It doesn't work in this story. Someday, maybe, I'll turn all of them into animals and put them in a pound as a result of the Mischief Fairy's pranks. (evil cackle) Oh…and um…don't steal that idea. Cuz the Mischief Fairy is Tasha's O.C. And that's my idea. Yeah.

Takuya: hehe...I likes your name, lol. Cuz Taki rocks. I believe "slightly more weird: is an understatement...hee hee. You sounded like you were just trying to be polite or something. lol. You know, I don't mind if someone tells me the truth now and then. Like for instance... if you had said "that was weird, I didn't like it as much because it didn't continue the story and the comments were lame" I would've just known that you'd prefer to hear the rest of the story instead of reading the comments. Lol. Maybe that's not even what you meant, but I just thought your reply was funny. And anyway, I just put that up to remind myself to continue. It was like...well...a motivation thing. Yep. So, here's an actual chapter. I hope it's better than the others. (but it's still weird) yep. thanks for the read and review! Not many people do that for me. but you do. So thank you.

Anyway, enjoy an actual real chapter that will continue the plot.

(------)

I don't own Digimon. But I own…well…this story for one…and the annoying OCs that everyone always ends up hating. But bear with me. They're not Mary Sue's or Gary Lou's. I hate those too. If I feel like the OCs are turning out like that, I'll kill em off. BWAHAHAHAHA! (um…right. Onto the story)

(------)

Takato cringed as the warehouse door open and slammed shut, drawing his two captor's attention away from him onto the newcomer. It could only be one person.

"Sir," the telepathic ninja stepped back, and hid a grin. "You're right on time."

"I'd say he's late," the other ninja complained gruffly, stuffing his gun away and glaring at Takato with acute anger. "He's always late."

The "Boss" was a tall man, wearing a black suit, white shirt, black tie, black shiny boots, and black sunglasses that completely hid his eyes. He wore a grim and annoyed expression, as if he was always in a hurry, and had stylish blonde hair. Takato figured he had to be somewhere in his early forties, if not mid-thirties.

And then recognition hit him like a slap to the face, and he cried out despite himself. "Yamaki!" he cried in anger. "YOU'RE the _Boss?" _He glared at Yamaki in hatred. "I thought you were on _our _side! What are you _doing?" _He stuttered for lack of better accusations, and then bit his lip to stay quiet. He reminded himself urgently that he wasn't going to let on any information.

Yamaki stared at him with a black expression, and then whirled on the two ninjas. "Who is this?" he demanded. "We aren't supposed to be kidnappers! And how can he see through the digital shields? That's impossible!"

"Not for digimon sir," the telepathic ninja replied calmly. "And he can not only see us and the invisible digimon, but he can understand them."

Yamaki raised an eyebrow in surprise, and then walked up to Takato's cage. He knelt down and peered in at the boy, his face unreadable. "You think you know me?" he asked calmly.

Takato glared at him. "Of course I know you," he spat. "I'd know you anywhere!"

A half smile played on Yamaki's lips. "Really? Interesting. But doubtful. For I have never seen you before."

Takato resisted the urge to yell at him. "Oh really? I find that more than just a little bit doubtful."

"Obviously. You are probably confusing me with someone else." Yamaki dropped his smile and stood up, turning to his ninja companions. "It looked like you were having a problem in here. Anything you want to explain to me?"

Both ninja's fidgeted slightly. "No sir," the complaining ninja grumbled.

"Really? If I recall correctly, you had your gun pointed at this creature right here." Yamaki pointed to the annoying fox. "Why?"

"It must have rabies or something," the ninja countered. "It was going mad, biting and clawing and running all over the place. I was going to mercifully put it down."

"I'm sure you were." Yamaki sneered, unimpressed. He walked to the cage of the fox and peered in. "What exactly was it doing that got you all riled up?"

"Just as I said sir."

"Not exactly, but pretty close. It was running all over in there, bashing itself against the door and yipping as loud as it could." The telepathic ninja stared at the fox with mild curiosity. "The boy, however heard differently."

Yamaki turned to Takato. "What was it doing, to be precise?"

"Why should I tell _you? _In my eyes, you're the enemy. I despise you. So I'm not going to humor you."

"It's not humoring me, boy. It's keeping your life. I don't like keeping captives unless they can prove to me that they aren't useless." Yamaki pulled out a gun. "This is the test. You tell me what it was doing and saying, or I'll put a bullet in your head." He cocked the gun, and stared unemotionally at his captive.

Takato gulped, and the voice of the telepathic ninja in his head warned him urgently that the Boss never joked about this kind of thing, no matter whether Takato was a kid or not. Sticking his chin out as bravely as he could, Takato glared at Yamaki in defiance. "He was screaming tongue twisters as loud as he could."

There was a drawn out silence, in which Takato could hear the complaining ninja muttering bad four letter words under his breath.

"Tongue twisters?" Yamaki asked doubtfully.

"In English."

"In English?"

Takato nodded. Yamaki's hand tightened on the gun, and for a minute, he thought he'd never take another breath… but then Yamaki put the gun away and laughed.

"Interesting," he said, amused. "Midias informs me you are telling the truth." His eyes gleamed victory. "You can't lie when I have a telepath with me."

"Telepathy's stupid."

Takato blinked, and then realized it was the fox that had spoken. Yamaki and the other two glanced at the fox, and noticed it staring calmly at them. There was an annoyed look in its eyes, an it shot an accusing glare over at Takato.

Yamaki ignored the fox, and turned back to Takato. "So tell me. Why should I let you go?"

Takato's hopes rose for a minute, and he wondered if Yamaki would really let him go. He could go tell Jeri why he hadn't met her when she wanted him to. She had a surprise for him too! He wondered desperately what it could be. Clearing his throat, he tried to focus on the present. "I am pretty much useless to the point where you'll probably kill me anyway for not coming up with enough information or anything to help you…BUT! I don't even know where I am so I couldn't turn you in. And if you guys have invisible shields, then no one will see you anyway. They wont believe me. So I could easily get away with saying it never happened." He hoped he was presenting his case ok. Cuz if he wasn't… he didn't want to think about it. He just had to hope.

Yamaki said nothing, but just stared at him for a long time. Finally, he turned to the ninja called Midias (the telepath) and cleared his throat. "What caused you to be so careless, as to let six of our captured creatures escape?" he accused.

Midias started in surprise, and looked around. Takato tried to get a glimpse too, and noticed six empty cages with the doors swinging on their hinges. He grinned to himself, pleased that some escaped. Maybe that was what was going on when the fox was going wild. He was creating a diversion.

"The fox created a diversion," Midias blurted suddenly.

"And you fell for it?"

"I thought something was happening."

"OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING! SIX OF THEM ESCAPED!" Yamaki slammed his fist down on the table in near them, sending the cards lying there into the air. "Your performance is not good enough lately, Midias. You're trying my patience!"

"Maybe, sir. But I think that will change. After all, we have the boy. And I can read his mind." Midias sweated slightly, nervously. He was fishing for a way to keep his standing up.

"A useless boy."

"Not useless. He can understand them, and overhear them. He can also see them. And I can read his mind and find out what he knows."

"Only _mostly _read his mind! What use is that! You may be a telepath, but you're not the greatest. In fact, you're pathetic. I am tiring of your sloppy work. I want those digimon for this experiment Midias. I don't want _children!" _Yamaki turned and glared at Takato, thinking of what to do with the teen. "I'll deal with you later," he growled, storming out of the room. "I'll be back when I have a chance to think things over. You two messed things up a great deal more than you were supposed to."

Midias and the other ninja glared at each other for a full five minutes after their Boss had left. Finally, Midias broke the silence.

"Don't you say a word," he warned, his voice breaking the silence that hung in the air. "I know what you're thinking."

"Yeah? Well get out of my mind freak! It's enough that I have to work with you. I _don't _have to coop with you! I told you we shouldn't have kidnapped him!"

"It'll pay off in the end, you'll see. I know. I may not be the best at telepathy, but this I can tell. His ability to communicate with them will come in handy."

"Oh shut up! You stay here. I'm going to look around for those creatures. They can't have gone far."

Midias grumbled under his breath. "Oh yes they can."

Takato grinned to himself. Maybe things weren't peachy, but at least they weren't going as planned. He may find out yet what was going on. And then he could find out a way to stop it. And then, the Boss would probably let him go.

Yamaki. How could he? How _dare _he? Takato clenched his fists and glared at the door Yamaki had exited from. What would everyone think of THIS?

Midias glared at him, his eyes seeping with anger and annoyance. "Maybe no one else believes me," he whispered, "but I know that you know a lot more than you want us to think." He walked toward Takato's cage menacingly, and kneeled down to glare at him. "I heard your thoughts. I know what you're thinking. And I wont let you get away with it. I'll make sure you don't learn anything. ANYTHING. You hear?"

Takato gulped, but stuck out his tongue anyway. It was the rudest thing he could think of at the moment that he was willing to do.

"And as far as the Boss goes…" Midias's eyes gleamed dangerously, and Takato became worried for some reason. "…I think you're thinking of someone else. That man is not Yamaki."

"Yes he is…" Takato whispered. "I'd know him anywhere."

"Really?" there was that gleam in the eyes again. "Then I suppose you'd be able to tell the difference between him and his twin?"

Takato's eyes widened. "T-twin?"

Midias chuckled evilly, then glared at him and stood up. "We'll see who the winner is, little brat. We'll see."

Takato bit his lip, wondering how on earth he was supposed to get out now.

(------)

Kouji stared at his hands, as the silence dragged on. He couldn't believe he had actually told this complete strange, this…Ikeda…everything about the digital world. What had compelled him to do this? Who was it that contacted him through his D-tector? Did he even want to find out? What if he wasn't doing the right thing?

Kouji breathed evenly, wiping his worries from his mind. He had to concentrate on the present circumstance, and figure out what to do.

Ikeda cleared his throat, and Kouji glanced up at him. He looked dubious. "So…"he began. "That's very interesting." He said nothing for several more minutes. "I know about the digital world…but the one you're talking about is different than the one Kazu tells me about." Ikeda stared at Kouji with a concentrating expression.

Kouji frowned. "What?" he asked. "What digital world are _you _talking about?"

"Well…" Ikeda frowned, and his expression darkened. "Wait…what if we're talking about two different digital worlds?"

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Two different digital worlds?"

"With two different origins and histories. Your digital world has been around for a long time. The one I know was created by the Monster Makers. Not that long ago considering. And they are both very different from each other." Ikeda stood up and paced around. "I think something very serious is going on that includes both of them."

Kouji stood up also. "So…this kid from my school…named Takato Matsuda…Do you know him?"

"Not personally. But Kazu and Kenta do."

"And what connection does he have with this other digital world _you _know?" Kouji thought he was starting to catch on. If Kouji was getting messages asking for help, and this Takato kid was captured, then there was a problem happening with both worlds, and everyone needed to work together to figure it out. _Perfect, _Kouji thought. _Working together was never really my best area. _

"He's a Tamer…a "digidestined" as they call themselves. I don't really understand it as much as I let on…" Ikeda laughed wryly. "But I think I can figure things out with you."

"Okay…so let's see what we know."

"Right. Let's look at all the details." Ikeda sat down again, and Kouji followed suit. "It's always better to brainstorm with another person."

Kouji nodded, feeling somewhat hopeful. Maybe he'd be able to get somewhere after all.

A vibrating in his pocket alerted Kouji, and he pulled out his D-tector. It was an incoming call. He clicked the "talk" button and said "yes?"

A tentative voice responded from the other end. "Hello? Is this Kouji?"

Kouji cocked his head in recognition. "Shinya? Takuya's brother right? What's up?"

"Oh…um…see I just…well…I did something…" Shinya sounded extremely guilty.

Kouji felt his worries rise up again. "What did you do?" he demanded, a little more viciously than he was intending to.

Shinya seemed to cringe on the other end. "Well…I…found Takuya's phone on the desk, and it looked weird. So I played around with it and…well…Takuya turned into some kind of animal thing. He started freaking out, and then ran away. I was really scared, but I followed him as fast as I could to see if I was just dreaming. And then…well…he vanished! Like, turned invisible or something!"

Kouji listened, mortified. Takuya turned into an animal? Or maybe…a digimon? HOW? "He turned into a digimo-…er….animal…and then ran away. And when you ran after him, he disappeared?"

"Uh huh."

Kouji sighed, holding his head in his hands. "Okay. Thanks for telling me. Just…bring me his D-tec…I mean phone, and I'll find him and return things to normal, okay?"

"Okay."

Kouji wondered if he could keep that promise, as he turned to face Ikeda. "Things just go a little more interesting…" he stated. More like…understated…

(------)

It was a long time before the Boss finally returned. Takuya watched him enter, carefully noting his held in emotion. He was clearly annoyed.

"The number of these creatures is not enough for the experiment," the Boss stated angrily to his two minions. They both cringed at his words.

"We haven't found the six missing yet sir, but we will."

"We could question the creatures," Midias attempted to suggest. The Boss shot him a disgusted look.

"Oh, and what's going to make them answer? You?"

Midias' eyes flared angrily. "Yes, sir. I can. They're simple minded creatures when it comes down to it. I just can't understand what they say."

"Simple minded?" the fiery cat in the cage next to Takuya hissed angrily. "I'd like to see him try to control _my _mind!"

Takuya stared at her with interest. "Just out of curiosity," he asked, "what kind of digimon are you?"

She blinked at him, and looked like she was considering not answering. But she sighed and answered anyway. "I was a FlameGatomon, as a result of my parents being two different kinds of digimon…" she looked like she was about to get defensive, but noticed Takuya hadn't said anything. She relaxed.

"What's wrong with that?" Takuya queried.

"Well…I was kind of like a mess-up. A freak, considering there's only one of me…"

"But that's cool!" Takuya grinned at her optimistically. "Just think of it! There's no other FlameGatomon than you! You're special, one of a kind, your own warrior, your own kind of strength that no one would ever get to experience! Just like the legendary warriors!" Takuya beamed at her. "People only teased you because they were jealous. I mean, being a standard digimon gets old sometimes."

"Yeah, well at least you fit in."

"Hey, you think I'm normal? I'm not even a real digimon! I'm human!"

"You're not? I mean…you are?"

"Uh huh. I'm Takuya. I used to be the legendary warrior Agunimon, but then I had to come home. I never tried to fit in. I just…well…made myself a place."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence as Takuya thought to himself many thoughts. Finally, he turned back to FlameGatomon. "Say, you don't look like a full digimon to me. What happened?"

"It happened to those of us that got sucked up into the portal from our world to this one. We escaped here because the damage over there was so great. But as we came over, we became only half digital. We're half um….half…um….half "real" I guess. Maybe that doesn't make sense. But anyway, we changed, and now we don't belong either here or our old home."

"So the link that the humans kept open causes digimon to change into half data half not-data, and is destroying both worlds…and…wow, this is bad. I can't even make sense of it all. Except that we have to close the link somehow, and find a way to change everyone back into digimon."

"But how are we going to do that? I can't level up, I can't use my attacks…I feel completely useless!" FlameGatomon growled and curled up in a ball.

"I'll think of something. Don't worry." Takuya wondered if he could actually do that, but kept that thought to himself.

"WILL YOU BE QUIET ALREADY?"

Takuya stopped his thinking to glance at the Boss. He was glaring at Midias furiously.

"I am tired of your excuses, and your telepathic nonsense! I hired you because you are a good poacher, not because of your so-called "powers!" I want to hear nothing else from you on the subject, understand?"

Midias stiffened, and nodded.

"Good. Because I'm the one giving the orders around here. Now. Do you have any _useful _information for me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then tell me."

"You don't want to hear it sir."

The Boss leaned over in the ninja's face and glared at him evilly. "Maybe I do. I'll decide after I hear it."

Midias clenched his hands into fists and straightened. "The boy has been to the digital world before. He recognizes some of these creatures he calls digimon."

Takuya heared a slightly audible intake of breath from the cage the boy was in.

"And I assume you heard his thoughts?"

"I listened, yes. And through him, I could understand what the creatures were saying." He turned and gave Takuya a sneaky glare. "One of these creatures is not like the others. In fact, it says it's not even supposed to be one of these creatures. It's exact words were: "I'm not even a real digimon. I'm human." I heard it only a minute ago."

The Boss glared at him, seething. "So, instead of listening to me, you were listening to these pitiful creatures?"

Takuya gulped. This Midias guy was not to be under-estimated! He glanced at FlameGatomon, and noticed she was glaring at him accusingly. _Oh boy. _

The Boss almost reacted, but held in his annoyance. "I may not like you at all, but you have your uses." He walked over to the cage where the boy was. "Find out his name."

"Yes sir."

There was a moment of silence, and the boy fidgeting nervously, until Midias turned back to the Boss. "Ask him," he declared. The Boss did.

"What is your name, boy?" he demanded.

The boy gulped, and stared up at the Boss uneasily. Finally, he stuttered out… "T-Takato."

Midias turned nodded and glanced at the Boss with a smug expression on his face. "He was telling the truth," he said quietly. "I would have known if he was lying."

The Boss's face was blank, as he turned from Takato and walked to the door. "I'll be back," he stated unemotionally.

Takuya watched him leave, worrying a lot more. What had caused that sudden change in the Boss? Did he recognize Takato's name? What connection did Takato have with all of this? Takuya lay down in his cage and tried to think. It was hard now. Especially since that telepathic ninja was around.

"What now?" he muttered, his eyes glancing over to JagerLowemon again. The cat stared seriously back at Takuya with unreadable eyes. The legendary warrior offered no help, so Takuya repeated the question to himself. "What now?"

(------)

Okay, that's it. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy it! I finally finished this chapter! Yay! It's more hard than you think, heh heh. So wish me luck. I got lots ta do around here, and writing isn't one of them. Still, somehow I manage to do it. Amazing huh?

Good night!


	5. In The Sky

I think I have too many stories. Well, at least I'm continuing them all as best I can. Sorry to keep people waiting. Although only one person is really waiting for this story, I know the rest of you just want me to hurry up and do Frontier Meets Everyone Else. Well guess what? You'll just have to wait. Bwa ha ha ha ha! It'll come up eventually.

Thank you reviewer! In other words, thank you takuya for reviewing. Lol. Takuya is like my favorite character, so it's kind of cool to have "takuya" reviewing my story. Although it's not the REAL takuya, it works. Ahem. Thank you for caring about my story. I hope you like where it's going! I've decided to just do the story, and forget about posting my sister's comments. They're not THAT great. Ha HA Tasha! Take that!

Lol….I'm a dork. But onto the good stuff. You know, it's funny how nobody reads my blabbing before and after the story anyway. But I keep trying.

Disclaimer: (yawn) Um…I don't….I'll never…ever…own…um….digimon. There, it's out. The truth is out. Now remember it.

(------)

Takato yanked again and again against the handcuffs, trying to figure out a way to get out of them, but it wasn't working. He was trapped tight in an animal cage with his left hand handcuffed to the cage. He couldn't get comfortable. All he could do was sit there like a caged animal and stare out at his kidnappers.

Midias. That stupid telepathic ninja. How did he do that anyway? How could he possibly read people's minds? That wasn't supposed to exist, right? Well, it did. Still, even if he got out of this alive, no one would believe him. Maybe Jeri would…she talked to her puppet after all. Oh no…Jeri! How long had she been waiting? Did she hate him now? Did she try to call him? Did she know he'd been kidnapped?

Just what time was it anyway? The Boss, Yamaki….no….it was his twin. Yamaki's TWIN had left the warehouse hours ago, saying he'd be back. The other ninja who Takato couldn't name had also left to go retrieve the missing digimon. Midias stayed behind, watching everything. Takato knew he was probably listening to his thoughts right now. How annoying. Yeah, you hear that? It's annoying. And rude. And you're stupid you big ugly ninja.

Midias turned and sneered at him in annoyance. "Oh shut up. I don't have to try to listen to you. You think loud enough on your own. Now if you don't mind, I'm concentrating on something else. Or at least, I'm TRYING to." He grumbled to himself and watched the other caged animals.

So that was what he was up to. Spying on the digimon eh? Trying to make their lives miserable? Yeah well…well…the police would come and figure this all out.

Wow, it must be late. Takato felt his eyes drooping closed, and tried to find a comfortable position to sit. His back was aching, and his wrist hurt from pulling against the handcuffs. How annoying. But he could at least try to get some sleep. No one would mind. He couldn't go anywhere anyway….

(------)

Midias watched Takato slip into an uncomfortable sleep and rolled his eyes. That boy was more trouble than he was worth. And for this operation, he was worth a lot. But nobody else could see it. How could they not see it? They knew how important this operation was! And this kid's abilities were not only helpful, they were dangerous! If the competitors found out about him, they wouldn't be so stingy on using him as the Boss was.

It was all very frustrating. Too bad Midias was not running things. Everything would be so much better. He could be the one making the calls…giving orders….making choices about keeping Takato and using him for the operation…It would be perfect. Too bad it couldn't be.

"I'm just a ninja," Midias hissed to himself. "A mercenary. I'm just here to make sure things go smoothly, and make sure nothing escapes." He wished he could be in charge. Maybe one day he'd reach the top, but this time was not that time. This job was not that job. But someday…yes someday…he'd be on top. Then he'd show everyone who was boss.

Speaking of Boss, here he came. Midias watched his Boss walk into the warehouse with a purposeful gait. Like he had everything planned out. This was all his game. Midias could hardly keep his sneer to himself.

"Have the missing creatures been found yet?" the Boss's voice was strictly unemotional, with a business air to it.

"No sir, they have not." Midias answered.

"I am losing my patience. We will have to start without them."

Midias suddenly perked up. Start without all the creatures? But…didn't they need a certain amount for the experiment to work? "Sir, may I ask why you changed your mind? Don't we need them?"

"Yes, we do." The Boss glanced at Takato, who slept fitfully in his cramped cage. "But I have done a little bit more research and found what I wanted."

Ah. So the Boss understood now. He could see how useful Takato could be. Midias nodded in understanding. "Tell me what do to," he offered. The Boss did not hesitate to take him up on that.

"Put one of these collars on all 24 of these creatures. It'll come in handy later."

"Very well sir." Midias sighed and stood up, reaching out to take a box from nearby. Inside were 30 collars of unique design. He wasn't sure what they were wired to do, but he knew they were powerful….somehow. He set the box down on the table, and grabbed a collar out. Putting these collars on the creature would prove to be difficult, as all of them were potentially dangerous. But he didn't hesitate. It had to be done in order for him to get his money.

The first few cages went by pretty quickly. He opened the cage, clicked the collar around the animal's neck, and slammed the door shut. The collar instantly shrank or grew to fit the exact size of the creature, and then hindered it from hurting Midias. So all was well. However, the rest of the creatures seemed to figure out what was going on, and began to get more difficult as he went. Some of them actually caused him quite a bit of pain and bleeding. It was starting to get annoying to insert his hands into a cage and pull them out shredded and bloody.

Now he was at the cage of the fox…the most annoying one of them all. The fox stared at him with something that looked like a smirk, and bared it's teeth. Maybe Midias couldn't read its mind, but he could see mockery on its face. How annoying. The fox-creature that was supposed to be a human was making fun of him.

"Listen up you nuisance, once this collar is on, you can say good-bye to being human. Or digimon, or whatever you call it. So I wouldn't be laughing if I were you."

The fox yipped, and sat down, as if daring Midias to open the cage and put the collar on him. Oh yeah? He'd show that stupid fox. He readied the collar in his hands, and used telepathy to stun the fox before opening the cage and thrusting the collar around its neck. He quickly pulled his hands out and slammed the door, then grinned at the helpless fox. Take that stupid animal! He turned and began to do the rest of the cages.

(------)

Takuya stared at the ninja in utter disbelief, then glanced at himself. Sure enough, his plan had worked. Instead of putting the collar around his neck, Midias had put it around his TAIL! Good thing he had his tail up in front of him before he got stunned huh? Takuya chuckeld, and checked it out. The collar had shrunk a great deal, trying to fit itself to Takuya's tail, but could still be slipped off. Takuya did so, and the collar slid uselessly to the floor of the cage. Big whoop. Now what? He'd be found out of course. But how was he supposed to keep up the illusion? Slip it on his tail again? Well, it was worth a try…

"I wonder what he's going to do when he gets to JagerLowemon's cage," Takuya wondered out loud. FlameGatomon turned to stare at him in surprise.

"JagerLowemon?" she asked. "Here? That's not good…"

"And maybe it is good." Takuya tried to be hopeful. "He's strong…he could get us out of here."

"Oh no. The ninja's at his cage now."

"This'll be fun to watch." Takuya watched with interest as Midias stared thoughtfully at the cage. "Stunning wont work quite the same way."

"I sure hope JagerLowemon can do something," FlameGatomon sounded really distressed, so Takuya offered her an encouraging smile.

"Of course he will. I mean, look at me!" he showed her his neck, and how the collar was really around his tail. "Pretty clever huh? Yeah, I'm hoping I can get away with it."

"But don't you wonder what these collars really do? What if they're….well…devices that allow that Boss guy to control us?"

"And what if they're just to choke us if we try to escape? I've heard of dog collars like that…oh no, those collars just shock the dogs if they try to run away…"

"You're hopeless." FlameGatomon rolled her eyes and turned her attention to JagerLowemon and the ninja again.

"Actually, I'm more hopeful than you are…"

"Oh shut up!"

A loud commotion from JagerLowemon's cage caught their attention, and everyone in the room turned to watch. Takato for some reason, remained asleep.

JagerLowemon was attacking his cage with such fury that if Midias even tried to get near it, he'd either get scratched by the cat's huge claws or whipped with its large, long, fluffy, whip-like tail. Midias looked hesitant about going near the creature, and so backed up and turned his attention to the Boss.

"Your suggestion sir?" Midias asked.

The Boss smirked. "Use telepathy. Don't you have that special gift?"

Midias sneered at his Boss in disgust, but didn't say anything.

"Try shooting it with a sleep dart."

Midias rolled his eyes. "Very well sir. Would you please supply me with one, since I don't have one?"

"I suppose."

Takuya frowned as he watched the two. Was this some sort of a game between them? It was clear that the two hated each other's guts. So why were they working with each other? He thought about this some more, and decided that when the enemy is divided against itself, it is a good thing. Usually, a smart person could use that to his advantage. However, Takuya could not pride himself on being smart. Yeah, he was 17 and in high school, but he was kind of a slacker. He only just passed all his classes. He wasn't an over-achiever like Kouji. Now Kouji, he was smart. He could think of something to fix this all up. Now if only he could contact Kouji…

BANG!

JagerLowemon stared at the dart that was embedded in his shoulder, and ripped it out with his teeth. He spat it out at the ninja and growled menacingly. However tough he looked, the dart still did its work. Slowly, JagerLowemon stopped scratching and pacing, and sat down. Eventually he stopped growling too. Then he was asleep. Without further ado, Midias stepped up, opened the cage and snapped the collar on, then slammed it shut. He turned back to his Boss with an annoyed expression.

"Now what?"

The Boss pulled something out of his jacket, and handed it to Midias with a grin. "Put this on the boy." He commanded. Midias looked confused. "Do it now, before he wakes up. You'll see why my telepathic worm."

Midias's face twisted in anger at the insult, but he obeyed. In a matter of seconds, he had the collar around Takato's neck, and was now facing his Boss. "So?" he demanded.

Takuya frowned. Okay, now would be a good time to pause and think. Collars on all of them? And on Takato too? What was this about? What experiment could be going on here? It had to be disastrous, because it was hurting the digital world…er…digital _worlds_. But what could it be?

"I don't like this," FlameGatomon shivered. "I get the feeling things will never be the same after this…for any of us."

Takuya frowned even harder, ignoring the headache it was giving him. "Yeah, same here." He thought carefully about his options. "I've got to get out of here and get help."

"But how?"

Takuya glanced at the collar he was pretending was around his neck. "I've got a feeling I can manipulate this collar to pick the lock."

"How will you do that? You don't have any hands!"

Takuya grinned. "I will…just as soon as they ignore us…" the Boss and the ninja left the room to go carry out their plan, and Takuya carried out his. He slid from his beast form to his Flamon form, and stared at himself in recognition. "Whoa, check it out! I'm a smaller version of Flamon!"

"That's nice. Um…how did you do that?"

"I don't know." Takuya grinned, feeling excitement fill him. He hadn't felt like this since the digital world! And that was six years ago! "But now I've got hands! Okay, you keep watch. Tell me if they come back so I can pretend nothing's happening. I'm going to work on this collar."

And he got to work.

(------)

Ikeda's face suddenly entered Kouji's vision, and Kouji woke up.

That was what it felt like, really. It felt like he woke up from sleep, and looked around at things with his own eyes. It was such a relief. He found himself smiling, and stared at Ikeda with a calm feeling filling him.

"I think I see now," Kouji muttered.

"See what?" Ikeda looked utterly confused, as Kouji had interrupted him in the middle of a sentence. The two had been brainstorming together for several hours, and it was dark already.

And then Kouji had just zoned out, as if none of it mattered anymore. He couldn't hardly concentrate on anything Ikeda was saying. That was when something woke him up. What was it?

Kouji looked around, but could see nothing different. That was weird. He sure felt different. But nothing had changed. It was weird. "I…." He tried to think of what he meant when he said "I think I see now" but he couldn't figure it out. It was almost as if it wasn't himself speaking. Now that was creepy. He snapped himself back into reality. "It was nothing. Nothing."

Ikeda shrugged, and continued his monologue of ideas. Kouji hardly listened to him. He had gotten everything he needed from Ikeda. All he needed to know was what Ikeda assumed happened from the facts, and what could have caused it. The best thing Ikeda had come up with was that a group of humans had opened a portal to the digital world…possibly both, and were doing experiments on digimon to create a weapon or something. So when Kouji decided that that was the best bet, he stopped listening to the rest. Now he needed to find out where they were, and what experiments they were doing.

He glanced out the window in boredom…and jumped back in horror.

There in the sky, was the scariest thing he'd ever seen. It was like an explosion of a million colors rippling through the sky. Behind the buildings of the city it sat in the sky, a swirling mess of chaos and disaster. Kouji could practically feel the pain it seemed to portray, as it clashed against itself, ripping itself into pieces and trying to reform again. The closer he looked, the more he could see. The buildings seemed to fall away. The window disappeared. The explosion was drawing him toward it, like a black-hole.

Kouji gripped his chair frantically, trying to make sure he wasn't moving toward it, but could not take his eyes off it. And then, when it had filled his entire vision, it suddenly became clear.

It was a collision. A collision of two worlds, both trying to compete and end up on top. A rip through both of them was spiraling down to Earth, like a tornado or something. Kouji stared at it, his eyes widening. He could see now…he could SEE what was going on. Two digital worlds had been opened, creating that tornado like portal to Earth. But because the portal would not close, the two worlds were colliding into each other and destroying themselves. It was like watching the worst horror movie man can come up with. Kouji tried to look away, but he couldn't. It took him a minute to realize he had tears on his face. Tears? Kouji? No….that couldn't be right…

"Kouji?" Ikeda asked, placing a hand on Kouji's shoulder. "What is wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Kouji gritted his teeth, and forced himself to turn from the horrible sight and stare Ikeda in the eyes. That was when he realized that the tears in his eyes were real. "No," he whispered. "I've seen worse." He stood up from his chair and looked around. He was still in the same place. The portal had not drawn him to it. But now he knew what was going on. He turned to Ikeda. "I see now," he said sadly. He pointed to the window without looking out. "Look."

Ikeda did. He looked, and looked, and glanced back at Kouji in annoyance. "See what? What is it I'm supposed tosee?"

Kouji chanced a glance out the window, but the portal/collision was still there, plain as day. How could Ikeda not see it? "You can't see that?" Kouji asked dubiously. He pointed to the sky. "Please tell me you can see that!"

Ikeda shrugged. "I can't. I don't know what you're seeing. Why don't you ask someone else who's been to the digital world, like yourself." Ikeda sat down, thinking. "I think my work is done. I've brainstormed and given you ideas, but that's all I can do now. You're going to have to talk to someone who's gone there before."

And that was when two 17-year-old boys crashed through the front door screaming. Kouji and Ikeda turned to find Kazu and Kenta gripping each other so tight they couldn't breathe.

"What's up?" Ikeda asked, looking like he knew what answer they would give.

"The…the digital world!" Kazu spoke shakily, as if he was trying not to cry. Tears again? First Kouji, then Kazu and Kenta! What was with crying? Kouji tried to find an explanation, but couldn't.

"It's…..it's…..I can't explain it!" Kenta was also crying. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes in embarrassment. He mumbled something about having something stuck in his eye, and he wasn't crying.

Kouji turned to stare out the window again, and wished he hadn't. The scar, the destruction that was tearing through both digital worlds was so devastating, that Kouji could almost hear the whole world (or worlds) screaming in pain.

They couldn't live there while that was happening! The digimon had to leave, or they'd be destroyed. They couldn't survive with that devastation! But where would they go? Kouji's face hardened into a glare. Of course. They would have to go through the portal to Earth. And probably right into the hands of the enemy that did this in the first place.

"How dare they," Kouji murmured. "How dare they destroy so much. All they want is probably money or something. Do they even know what they're doing?"

"Probably yes, probably no." Ikeda spoke up. "I can't see what's happening like you three can, but I can tell you what to do." He crossed his arms and stared thoughtfully at Kouji. "You're going to have to go find where the digimon are entering the world, and get them to safety. Either that, or watch and see where they are taken. Then you'll need to put a stop to it."

Kouji nodded. Of course.

"We….we ha-have to g-g-go to the….to that th-thing?" Kenta asked, shaking tremendously.

Kazu tried to look brave. "I think we should have Kouji here do that." Kouji raised an eyebrow. Really? Trying to get out of doing anything were they? "And you and I should get Henry and Rika and Ryo and the rest. They'll want to know what's going on. Besides, they're better than we are."

"Who are they?" Kouji asked.

"Other Tamers like us. Only they're the strongest. Well, Takato is one of the strongest too, but he's missing."

"Kidnapped," Kouji murmured. "But why? Wait…did you say he's one of the strongest?"

Kazu and Kenta nodded.

"These people obviously know that you guys are a threat to them. We have to go about this secretly. You guys, yes. Go get the other…um…Tamers. I'm going to the base of that portal to spy. Don't let yourselves get caught, okay? Pretend like you don't know that…that…." Kouji fumbled for a good word to describe the vision in the sky. "….that thing in the sky is there."

Kazu and Kenta nodded again. Then they hurried out, both commenting on how Kouji was a smart guy. Kouji shook his head and sighed. Those two were ridiculous, even in the face of such confusing times.

_Kouji!_

Kouji shot his head upright and looked around. Where was that voice coming from?

_Kouji it's me, Lobomon._

Kouji picked up his D-tector, and stared at it. Lobomon was talking to him from there. Kouji smiled in remembrance. He used to talk to Lobomon this way in the digital world too. "Hi," he whispered. He didn't know what else to say.

_Kouji, see this button? _A button flashed on Kouji's D-tector. _It controls the gift I've given you. Push it, and you can turn into a digimon. Just a small one though, because I'm not in there anymore._

"That's alright. I didn't know you gave me a gift…"

I did. We all did. That's why Shinya was able to turn Takuya into a digimon. But never mind that. I need you to come get me.

"Come get you?" Kouji was already out the door. "Where are you?"

At the base of the portal. I couldn't keep fighting it. I slipped, and here I am. I don't want to be caught like JagerLowemon was.

"He was?" Kouji ran toward the base of the portal, trying to ignore the sight of the horror in the sky.

Yes. But Lowemon is still here. It's weird. This portal does strange things as you pass through it. If you're a legendary warrior, it separates you from your beast spirit. You kinda become two different digimon.

"Weird…" Kouji frowned. "What else does this portal do?"

It changes your data. You become only half digital. The rest of you is…well…..how do I put this…real I guess. Half digital, half animal. It's a huge shock, and most of the digimon down here don't know what to do. We've all become mutated from our original forms. Now we're what everyone else would call freaks. I'm afraid that if we stay like this, we may never be able to go back to the digital world.

"This is awful!" Kouji groaned. "We've got to close this portal so those two worlds stop trying to destroy each other! Do you know how it can be done?"

Not a clue. I'll need you humans to figure that one out. For now, I just need to not get caught.

"What am I going to do with a digimon around me though?"

I could pretend to be your pet….

"We'll see how that works out…" Kouji grumbled. He doubted anyone would fall for it.

There. He was at the base of the portal. He glanced up at the sky, staring up the twirling black-hole of a tornado in fear. The swirling vortex looked more like a hole in the sky, and beyond it was devastation.

"Don't look at it too long, or you'll forget where you are. You could get sucked into it." A familiar voice said from nearby. "As long as you know you're on Earth, you'll stay here. But once you're not sure, you'll enter the portal and not know which was is up or down."

Kouji forced himself to look away, and glanced down. That was when he found what he was looking for. "Lobomon?"

The creature that was probably Lobomon grinned up at him. "That would be me."

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Well, that's all I have time for today. I'll put it up and write some more later. I found out that I have several chapters missing in between stuff in the original documents, so I have to make them up. I think I'm doing pretty good. It's following the original story so…yep. I hope you like it.

Reviews are nice. They're cool. You could give me one! I'd greatly appreciate it. Lol.


	6. Flamon Runs, Lobomon Comes

Look at that. I'm back. I got good grades last quarter! So in celebration, I will begin writing another chapter of this story. Not very many people read this story. My original readers got bored with the comments, so they didn't want to continue. Lol. So I am going to delete them.

Sorry Tasha. I love you. But those comments are inside jokes. They're awesome to you and me, but no one else can appreciate them like we can. Don't stop writing them for me though. And this story is still dedicated to you.

Thank you reviewers! Blessings upon all of you for actually reading this, and then actually writing a review! You guys are so sweet! If I could give you a piece of candy I would.

So onto the story now.

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I do not own digimon. (sigh). I'll bet you're rejoicing about that Takato, aren't you? Heh. Probably. I am going to be pretty mean to you, after all. Not this chapter, but next time...hee hee hee hee hee!

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CRASH!

Takato woke up so startled, he tried to stand and ended up hitting his head on the top of his cage. He cringed, complained under his breath, and rubbed his head. What an unpleasant way to wake up!

"Oh now you've done it. As if they're not going to hear THAT!"

Takato turned his sleep-crusted eyes to his left, and noticed the red-orange cat that was called FlameGatomon. She looked terrified, her eyes so wide they looked even more unreal than they normally did. They looked anime or something. She was crouched in her cage, peering out at something below her. Takato followed her gaze, and noticed something interesting.

On the floor lay that fox, who had apparently fallen out of his cage onto the floor heavily. He looked just as worried as FlameGatomon, but tried to hide it with a nervous laugh.

"Wow. This collar is heavy. Good thing I'm not wearing it or else I'd be stuck on the ground. I think it's supposed to keep us from running away." The fox slipped the collar off his tail, and shook himself. Then he stood up.

That was when Takato noticed something different about him. Instead of looking like a fox, he looked like some kind of…red sonic the hedgehog or something. To describe him a little better, Takato labeled him as a "red, punk, sonic the hedgehog." The description seemed to fit just perfectly, so Takato left it that way. How he had changed like this was not clear, but now he had hands. So that was how he managed to get out of his cage.

"But I have hands," Takato complained to himself. "How come I can't get out?" Then he noticed the collar.

It was strange-looking and silver, and was so smooth there didn't seem to be any edge to it at all. It looked like just a silver ring. How did one go about clasping it onto something? Or was it a kind of collar that once on, can never come off? This fox…er…sonic the hedgehog digimon—that still kind of looked like a fox standing up—had obviously used some sort of trick to get out of having it around its neck. All the other digimon had collars just like it, but theirs didn't look like they'd be coming off any time soon. But still, none of that explained how the fox digimon had gotten out!

"Be careful. Hurry up, okay?" FlameGatomon shivered. "I'm afraid you'll get caught, and then there will never be any hope for us."

"Don't worry," the fox assured confidently, "I'll try my best. If I fail, then…then…I'll try again at the next opportunity." He crept off.

The cat sighed. "There wont be a next opportunity."

Takato sat and thought for a minute, watching the fox slip out of the warehouse and speed off as fast as he could. At least this digimon, unlike the others who had escaped, was going to get help.

Stretching, Takato tried to get comfortable. This cage was awful, and he couldn't stand sitting here much longer. His bum was asleep, his legs were asleep, and his back ached like nothing else. His head hurt, his left arm tingled and complained, his neck felt like it was being slightly choked…the list went on and on.

Takato frowned. He could explain every uncomfortable-ness he felt…except for the neck part. What would make his neck feel like he was wearing a cold, choker necklace or something? He reached up with his right hand, and gingerly felt around his neck. Cold, smooth metal met his hand, and he gasped in horror. He was wearing a collar?

Just then, the Boss entered the warehouse. Takato knew he would notice the missing fox, and the collar lying on the floor, and decided to intervene before it could get noticed.

"HEY!" he yelled. The Boss turned and glared at him with a silent, brooding expression. "WHY AM I WEARING A COLLAR? How can you do this to me? What do you think I am, an ANIMAL? I demand to be released right now! I have school you know! Finals are coming up, and if I don't get good grades…"

"Finals?" the man scoffed. "That's what you're worried about?" he turned and walked toward his briefcase, which was sitting on the table. "It just goes to show how little you know."

Now it was Takato's turn to scoff. "Well you haven't exactly been keeping me informed. Why am I wearing a collar? You haven't answered that yet."

"And I'm not going to."

"Why, you afraid that once I know what you're up to, it'll jeopardize your sinister plot?"

The Boss turned and stared at Takato with a blank expression, and then walked towards him. "You know," he said calmly, "I never wanted people to get involved in this experiment. But I couldn't do it by myself. I was forced to trust other people to help me. At first, everything was going perfectly. I thought, maybe I can really do this. But then you came along." He held something metallic in his hands, but Takato couldn't see what it was. "I was furious, of course, but I guess I underestimated the trouble you put us in. Apparently, you can not only see through our digital invisible shields, but you can see these creatures as well." He gestured to the cages, his gaze stopping when it encountered the fox's empty cage, and the collar lying on the floor. His eye twitched, but he continued talking. "And then I found out you could understand them too. That's a very rare talent, considering these creatures are not native to our planet."

Takato watched him, a little concerned. He couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing that he was telling Takato all of this. For now, all he could do was listen, and hope he could learn something out of it.

The Boss continued talking, as he walked slowly toward the fox digimon's empty cage. "The collars were part of the experiment. They are vital. Without them, the experiment would never work. However, there was a danger that you could disturb my experiment. I figured you probably would too, because obviously you're on their side. So, I had to create a collar for you too." He Glanced at Takato, searching for any kind of expression. "You do understand, if I did not put that collar on you, I would have to kill you. I don't like kidnapping, and I don't like killing. So before you start complaining again, just be assured that as soon as I'm done, I'll let you go. Then you can do whatever you want. Okay?"

Takato bit his lip and frowned at the Boss. "I'm hungry," he stated simply, not sure what else to say. His head swam with confusion. Part of him wanted to trust the Boss, and believe what he was saying, even if he didn't like it. The other part warned him that it was just a lie, and they wanted to use him in their experiment, whatever it was.

"It figures you would be."

"Can I have something to eat and drink? And please, can you take this handcuff off my wrist? I'm aching all over." Takato shifted uncomfortably. "In fact, could I come out? Just to stand for a bit? It's a little tight in here."

The Boss didn't look at him. Instead, he bent over and picked up the collar on the ground. "Interested," he said softly. "This was the cage of the fox, wasn't it?" Takato didn't answer. "I think I remember Midias saying something about this certain creature. Wasn't it the one you witnessed getting caught? That's why you were kidnapped, weren't you?"

He turned and walked to Takato's cage, opened the lock, and took off the handcuff from Takato's wrist. With one smooth movement, he pulled his captive out and tossed him into a chair. Takato was so stiff, he could hardly move before he found his hands being cuffed together, and a rope tying him to the chair.

The Boss leaned against the table near Takato, staring at the collar thoughtfully. "That particular creature said something interesting, didn't it? Said something about not being like the other digimon. Didn't it?"

Midias entered the room, carrying a cup of water and a plate with something on it. He smirked at Takato before setting both down on the table and turned to face the Boss. "It did indeed," he said softly. "It's exact words were, "I'm not even a real digimon. I'm human," sir."

"Yes, it did, didn't it." The Boss handed the collar to Midias, his face completely blank. Takato could see no expression in his face, but he could feel the uncomfortable anger rolling off of him. Tension built up in the room, until finally, Midias backed up a little. "You didn't do a very good job," the Boss mention calmly, although Takato could tell he did not feel calm right now. He was hiding anger underneath that incredibly expressionless face.

"No sir, I guess not…" Midias looked annoyed. It didn't matter that he was a ninja, or mercenary, or poacher…whatever he was. It didn't even matter that he was telepathic. He was awful at concealing his emotion.

The Boss did not answer, but turned to Takato instead. "Eat," he ordered. "When you're done, you're going back into the cage. And Midias, I want you to get me seven more of those creatures. I want them in here within two hours. If they are not…" he did not finish his sentence, and walked out of the room.

Takato glanced at Midias uncertainly, before reaching out with his handcuffed hands and picking up the sandwich on the plate. Midias stared at the door the Boss had just left through, seething. He turned and glared at Takato, before tossing the collar onto the floor and leaving the warehouse.

Takato was alone.

"I'm alone," he stated softly, staring around him in interest. He wondered if he would be able to escape, or if they were just testing him. What was he supposed to do?

"No, but they're not listening right now."

Takato turned his head, and looked in the direction the voice had come from. The large black cat with huge claws and the long puffy tail was staring solemnly at him. "Who are you?" Takato asked.

"I am JagerLowemon," the cat replied. "I am a Legendary Warrior."

"Hi."

"I suggest you just eat for now. If you behave this time, and just act like you're a little spooked about this whole situation, they might trust you a little bit more next time."

"You think?" Takato stared back at the Legendary Warrior thoughtfully. He seemed so…sad. Takato wondered why, but didn't ask.

"Yes, but I have been known to make mistakes." The cat chuckled slightly, but it sounded more like a sigh. "Besides, you wont be able to escape even if you wanted to. That collar makes it impossible."

"Wonderful," Takato sighed, stuffing the sandwich in his mouth. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. Or how thirsty. He gulped down the water in two gulps, and then wished he had some more. "I guess I'll just have to wait for now, wont I?"

"Takuya will get help," JagerLowemon sounded like he didn't quite believe what he himself was saying. It was almost like he was trying to comfort the other digimon around him, even though he doubted it himself. "He always was a resourceful human, even if he is a little hot-headed."

Takato shrugged. "Well, I'll keep my mouth closed for now. The more I say, the more I regret. I just wish none of this had happened, you know?"

JagerLowemon shook his head sadly. "You have no idea just how bad it is."

Takato wondered if he was better off not knowing.

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"Lobomon!" Kouji threw himself at the little creature, and hugged him tight. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Lobomon pushed himself out of Kouji's arms, huffing in annoyance. "Get a grip on yourself Kouji!" he growled. "I chose you because you DON'T do stuff like that! Well, maybe it was more complicated than that, but still."

"Sorry." Kouji straightened himself out, and then started walking away from the terrible tornado in the sky. Lobomon walked with him. "You just don't know how hard it is to be a legendary warrior, and then have to give it up. I really missed you."

"You're telling me I don't know what it's like?" Lobomon rolled his eyes. He was small, like a tiny wolf pup, that stood on two legs. He had his traditional "Lobomon scarves," but they were much shorter. He wore metal boots with spikes on them, and had a wolf's tail. His hair was almost blonde, and had dark streaks like highlights running through it. It was tied in a ponytail, and a few strands hung in front of his face. On his forearms were metal greaves with spikes coming from them on one side. He looked tiny compared to his former glory, and Kouji couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

"Well, you don't understand it from my perspective."

Lobomon rolled his eyes. "As much as I missed you, there isn't time to joke around. I need to tell you several things. First, you need to know that the portal up there does things to digimon when they pass through it. It turns us half un-digital when we pass through it."

Kouji frowned. "Is that why you look like this?"

"Yes, but that's not all. We Legendary Warriors got separated from out Beast Spirits. So there are two Legendary Warriors of Light now. That could be a good thing except that KendoGarurumon is missing. I can't find him."

Kouji groaned. "This just keeps getting worse and worse. Did you know that some kid named Takato got kidnapped with some digimon?"

"No. Who's he?"

"He's apparently a digidestined for the other digital world." Kouji stopped walking, when he noticed someone suspicious sneaking up toward the portal. "Wait…who's that?"

"I don't know. Let's get out of here." Lobomon jumped onto Kouji's back, peering at the newcomer. It was a man dressed in black, who had a sour expression on his face, and a strange device in one hand, and two cages in the other. "I think he's here to capture digimon."

"He must be the enemy!" Kouji dropped to the ground and rolled behind a corner, forgetting he had Lobomon on his back. He hid as best as he could as he watched the man pass him, walking toward the portal. "If I can follow him, I'll find out where they're hiding. Then I can call the police."

"What can the police do? No one can see us but you! And…him." Lobomon frowned and rubbed his head, annoyed at Kouji for rolling over him.

"The police will storm in and rescue Takato, while I will get help and rescue the digimon."

"Kouji, it's a lot bigger than that. We can't just go in and save the day!"

Kouji sighed. "I know. It'll never be that easy, will it?"

"When dealing with humans? Never. Humans are so complicated, you never know what to expect." Lobomon hushed up, and he and Kouji watched what the mysterious person was doing. Maybe they couldn't just go and save the day, but they could figure out where the "bad guys" were.

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Takuya ran as fast as he could. He ran so fast he could swear there was flame trailing behind him. Eventually, he slowed down, as he was getting near home. Even though he hadn't a clue where that warehouse was, he still managed to find home without even trying. Ah, the joys of being digital. Well…he was only half digital. And so were all the other digimon who were stuck down here. Only he didn't have a collar.

"I've got to get my D-tector," he said to himself, leaping effortlessly into the tree by his house. It felt incredibly familiar, being Flamon and jumping into the tree. Takuya tried to shake off the creepy dejavu feeling and focus on the task at hand. All he had to do was turn back into himself, and go ask Shinya for the D-tector. "Relax Takuya, your brother will not blow your cover. He'll probably be too freaked to even mention it."

Convincing himself that there was no danger, he slipped out of the tree as Takuya, and walked into his house. "Hi mom!" he called, pretending nothing had happened. "Where's Shinya?"

"Where have you been?" Mrs. Kanbara stormed into the entryway, here eyes narrow with motherly anger. Takuya could tell she'd been worried.

"Oh, sorry. I was studying at Kouji's house, and just stayed the night. Finals are coming up you know. And he is helping me with my math…" Takuya hoped his mom would fall for it, and grinned apologetically at her. "Sorry I didn't call. It got late and I forgot. I wont let it happen again."

"You'd better not! Shinya didn't even know where you were! And why didn't you answer your phone?" She bought it.

Takuya tried not to sigh visibly with relief. "It died, sorry. I have to charge it, but I left the charger here. Have you seen Shinya?"

"Not today. He said he's going to a friend's house after school." Mrs. Kanbara sighed, and Takuya could suddenly tell that she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. "I want that boy's number Takuya, so I can call him just in case."

"Sure thing…"Takuya wrote it down, trying not to sweat, and handed the piece of paper to his mom. "Who's house is he at?"

"Tommy's."

Takuya sighed with relief. "Thanks Mom. I have to find him. I found something of his that I think he'll need before tomorrow. A piece of his science project…" Takuya walked out of the house mumbling, and then started walking to Tommy's house.

"Thank goodness it's Tommy's house," Takuya sighed. "I don't like his other friends…" He hurried as fast as he could, knowing that he could trust Tommy to help him out when he needed it, by keeping Shinya out of this whole mess. If anyone was nosey in curious, it was Shinya. And that boy would not be satisfied until he knew the whole story about Takuya being turned into a freaky animal. "That little brat," Takuya complained, knowing full well he didn't mean it. He loved Shinya, but the kid could get really annoying. "He'd better not have lost my D-tector or I'm going to kill him!"

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Blaugh, I don't want to write anymore. Sorry it's short. But you'll have to live. I'll do the part I was wanting to do next time, okay? Enjoy! And review! Please? Thank you!


	7. The Experiment Begins

Hello again readers and reviewers! Thank you so much for your reviews. You guys are so awesome. You rock. Well actually, **I only had ONE reviewer**, so that was kind of **depressing**. So thank you, my one reviewer. You are my hero. The rest of you, plus my one reviewer, if you noticed any typos, any grammar mistakes, and unclear plot lines, please let me know. I want to fix them. And please continue to tell me what you think. This story is only happening because it's fun for me to do. So please, enjoy this chapter, even if it is a little long. Or a little short. I don't know who thinks what. Me, I always think things are too short. Haha. But that's just me.

Okay, let's head onto the show!

And seriously, more people should review this story, even if its flames. Because it needs to get better, and your opinion counts. Thanks! Here we go.

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**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. It belongs to Toei Animation or something. Right? Well anyway, it doesn't belong to me. I simply love to write fanfiction about it.

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Takato stared at his empty plate, still uncomfortable. If only he could stand and stretch he'd feel better. The food wasn't much, but at least they had given him something at all. Now he just wished there was something he could do to make all of this stop. The digital world --er, digital worldS-- were in danger, and as a digidestined, he was supposed to be able to fix it, right? But he didn't even have Guilmon anymore! Well…that wasn't entirely true…but…no one knew about that yet.

Years ago Guilmon had come back to visit him. Takato had been thrilled. The two of them spent hours hanging out, before Guilmon had to return every night to the Digital world. When Takato asked him if Henry and the others got to see their partners again, the answer had been no. Only Takato got to see Guilmon again. How could he tell Henry about it? He couldn't. It would hurt too much. So he kept it a secret. And as the years passed, he saw less and less of Guilmon. But he always got to see him on the weekends. But now that he was kidnapped…. He wouldn't get to see him at all! He couldn't even call for help because Guilmon would get captured. And he couldn't do that to his friend. All he could do was hope that Guilmon would not try to come to his rescue.

_Please Guilmon, don't come anywhere near me. Please!_

He looked up as he heard footsteps, and watched as the Boss entered the room. "Had enough to eat?" The man asked, his face still as expressionless as it was when he had left the room. He didn't wait for an answer, but leaned over to untie Takato and drag him to his feet.

Takato stretched uncomfortably, giving the Boss a grateful look, and tried to crack his aching back. Before he could do much else, he was forced back into the cage. Instead of being handcuffed to the bars like last time, the Boss left his hands handcuffed the way they were, and slammed the door to the cage shut. Within seconds it was locked.

"Thank you," Takato called out. The Boss stared at him blankly. "I know that I'm a bother to you, because you told me so yourself. I know that I'm kidnapped, and I also know that you could pretty much do anything you wanted to me. Like…k-kill me or something." he gulped. "But you let me eat something, and let me stretch for a little bit. So thanks." He sighed and leaned against the cage. "I'm kinda scared about what's going to happen, but you don't seem as bad as all that…" his voice trailed off and he left his sentence unfinished.

The Boss stared at him like he was an idiot or something, and walked out of the room. Takato wasn't sure what he was trying to do by saying that, but he was hoping that like Yamaki, this man would simply be confused. Maybe he would realize that what he was doing was wrong and change his mind. If this really was Yamaki's twin brother, like Midias had said, then perhaps he just needed to see the truth.

"Something is happening," FlameGatomon mewed, her voice anxious. She was pacing the cage with the hair on her back raised. Her ears were laid back against her head, and her tails drooped. She looked freaked.

Other digimon in other cages started acting strange too. Takato watched with a worried expression, as one by one, they stared to growl, hiss, bark, howl, moan, cry and anything else to express their discomfort. "What is happening?" he asked. "What's going on?"

JagerLowemon's growl was terrifying, and it filled the entire room. His eyes were practically rolled back into his head, and his large claws dug deep into the floor. He was trembling all over. "The experiment," he hissed. "It's begun."

Takato gulped. "What's it doing?" he lifted his handcuffed hands and felt the collar around his neck in surprise, as it began to vibrate. He felt a sickening feeling spread from his neck into his entire body, like an adrenaline rush that made him nauseous. It was like something was slowly beginning to rip him up from the inside out. "What's happening?" he asked, in a panicked voice. The feeling was steadily growing worse. A wave of panic washed over him, and he collapsed into a ball, curled up around himself in pain. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" he screamed. "MAKE IT STOP!"

He squeezed his eyes shut, barely able to hear what was going on around him. The sound of someone screaming had to be coming from him, he knew, but it seemed like it wasn't. It didn't feel like he was screaming, but he was sure that the person doing so was him. Unless it was the digimon…but…

His train of thought was lost to him, and he fell painfully into unconsciousness.

(------)

Kouji watched carefully, as the stranger set his cages down and crouched behind a building to watch the digimon who were around the portal. It was clear that he was going to try to capture some of them, but how he figured he was going to do that Kouji had no idea. Didn't he know that digimon were fighters? They could easily attack him! Or maybe he did know it, and that's what the metal thing in his hand was for. Whatever was going on, all he could do was watch for now.

Lobomon crouched on his shoulder, watching silently for a minute, and then gasped. "Kouji!" he whispered. "That's Agunimon!"

Kouji squinted, trying to see better, and caught sight of a small sonic-the-hedgehog-looking creature. Almost like that anyway. It was like a fox-like creature, with a punk-like outfit. Its hair was orange, and long, and he had the sign of Agunimon on his belt. His eyes were big and green, and he had white tattoos on his arms and chest, and on his cheeks. And apparently, Kouji and Lobomon were not the only ones to see him.

The stranger stretched out the hand that held the metal object, and pressed a button on it. To Kouji's surprise, Agunimon froze, as if someone had pushed the "pause" button on a remote and "paused" him. "Stupid fox creature!" the man hissed, reaching out and grabbing Agunimon and stuffing him in a cage. "Or should I say stupid _human! _Yeah that's right. I know what you are. I heard your thoughts. Thought you could escape from me did you?" he muttered a few other things, and then went back into his crouched position.

"Human?" Kouji asked in a whisper to Lobomon. "What does he mean?"

Lobomon looked surprised. "I already told you all about it, but I guess you weren't listening. He must mean..."

"Mean what?"

"He must be talking about Takuya."

Kouji turned and stared at his friend with a frown. "Takuya? What are you talking about?"

Lobomon sighed in annoyance and took Kouji's D-tector from him. "I already explained this, but I'll go through it again. See this button, the one you press to spirit evolve?" Kouji nodded, so Lobomon pressed it. There was a flash of light, and the familiar feeling of Kouji's data changing into something else, and then nothing. "Look at yourself now."

Kouji did. He blinked in surprise. He looked exactly like Lobomon. And they were the same size too. The only difference was that his hair, unlike Lobomon's—which was blondish with black streaks—was black with a few blondish streaks. But besides that, they were identical. "But how does that work?" he asked. "We're….the same!"

"So are Takuya and Agunimon. It looks like Takuya got captured by this guy, and then escaped. And now he has Agunimon. But that's even worse." Lobomon sighed, and turned back to watch. "Should we stop him from capturing anyone else?"

Kouji pressed the button, turning back into his human self, and shook his head. "No. We need to find out where he's taking them. If we can find that out, we can rescue not just Agunimon, but all of the captured digimon. And Takato as well." Kouji clenched his hand in a fist. "I promised everyone I would rescue him, and I'm going to do it."

"Do you know this Takato kid who got kidnapped?"

"Well, yeah, sort of. He goes to my school." Kouji stared at the stranger as he captured another digimon, and thought about Takato. He didn't really know much about him, except that he had a different group of friends than Kouji did. But if they were both digidestined, then they had a lot in common.

"Look," Lobomon once again interrupted his thoughts. "He is leaving."

"How many did he capture?"

"Seven. And none of them even tried to attack him! Not even the ones that knew he was there!" Lobomon growled angrily. "We're too disoriented to function correctly. Becoming half-real is like losing a part of yourself. We're only half digital now."

"You don't seem to be affected…"

"That's because you are here. I would have been just as easily caught as Agunimon was if you hadn't come to find me." Lobomon climbed back onto Kouji's back and smiled grimly at him. "You're my partner. You give me strength."

Kouji raised his eyebrows. "Partner? That's different…"

Lobomon chuckled slightly. "Not really. It's the way it was meant to be. You used my spirit, and saved me from Cherubimon's corruption. Because of that, I was able to become what I was meant to be. Your partner. You give me strength Kouji." He grinned. "I'll bet you thought it was the other way around,"

"Well I did…" Kouji frowned. "That's different, but it's cool. I kinda like it." He watched the stranger walk off, and prepared to follow him at a distance. "If having a partner means we give each other strength, I'm all for it. Let's go."

"Right," Lobomon growled. He simply rode on Kouji's back, letting Kouji do the exercise. It was probably best anyway. Kouji knew where he was. Lobomon didn't have the slightest clue. But he watched the city with interest as they passed through it, following the stranger. None of the humans could see him. He knew that. It was something that the portal did to the digimon. It took away half of their data, and changed them into creatures who were invisible to the naked eye. It was like a digital shield over every single one of them. Only digidestined who had been to the digital world before could see him.

But that man…he could see the digimon. He could see the portal. Perhaps he had some device that made it possible. He was after all wearing a similar kind of shield. No one could see him either. It was strange. Had these shields that the digimon had come from the humans who started all this to begin with? Maybe it was so that no one else but themselves could take the digimon into captivity!

It was slowly beginning to make sense. In the digital world, everything had been so confusing he could hardly do anything to stop the terrible destruction of the digital worlds. And once he passed through the portals, he was so disoriented he could hardly think. What had happened? What was going on? His only hope had been Kouji. And now that Kouji was here, he could think again.

Lobomon watched Kouji use stealth to follow the stranger. His movements were so perfect, his focus perfect, his determination giving him strength. Lobomon grinned. He couldn't have chosen a more perfect human to be his partner. Kouji was everything he had been looking for. And it seemed that he was even better now that he was older. _Thank you Kouji, _he thought. _Without you, I would never be any help. You saved my life. And now you will help to save countless others from disaster. I knew you were the right one. Thank you Kouji, for being my Tamer.  
_

It seemed that everything was going perfectly. The stranger didn't even know he was being followed. It looked like everything was going to work out. There was hope after all!

And then, Kouji ran into someone.

(------)

Takuya arrived at Tommy's house pretty quickly, and hurried up to the door. He had run the entire eight miles, and for some odd reason he wasn't tired at all. Hmm. Something must have happened. Perhaps turning into Flamon had done that to him. Whatever it was, it sure felt good. He knocked politely, trying to refrain from pounding on the door impatiently, and waited for someone to answer the door. That's when he looked up at the sky.

He gasped, and collapsed to the ground in horror. It looked like the sky was being ripped apart! A huge, gaping wound, drawing him closer, sucking him dry… A raging inferno of disaster slowly pulling him into it, destroying everything…. Buildings fell away until there was nothing but the sky, eating him up. He yelled and covered his face with his hands, trying to protect himself from the swirling pit of pain…

"Takuya?"

Takuya blinked and pulled his hands away from his face, and looked up into Tommy and Shinya's faces. The sun was shining, but there was no warmth in it. The gaping hole was still there. "Um…hi…" he stated, shaking visibly. He tried not to look at the wound in the sky and stood up. This must look really weird to Shinya…

"What were you doing?" Tommy asked, confused.

Takuya shivered, and pointed to the sky. Shinya glanced up, then looked back at Takuya. "What, did you see a dinosaur or something?" he teased. "There's nothing there."

Tommy threw himself to the ground, startling the two brothers momentarily. He was crying. "What's happening?" Tommy pleaded. "What's causing that…that….that terrible…" he couldn't finish his question.

"Tommy what's wrong with you?" Shinya complained. He glanced at Takuya strangely. "And you look back to normal. What happened? You looked like some kind of animal."

This got Tommy's attention. In a few seconds he was back on his feet, trying to ignore the swirling vortex in the sky the same way Takuya was trying to. "What do you mean?" Tommy asked, narrowing his eyes. He looked at Takuya suspiciously. "Some kind of animal?" he was hinting at something.

Takuya laughed and scratched his head, trying to decide what to say next. "Well…not…but…see…um….he…." he sighed. "Oh never mind. Shinya, can I have my cell phone…I mean…can I have that device back? I really need it."

Tommy's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. He just looked jealous.

Shinya shrugged and watched the two of them suspiciously, knowing they were keeping something from him. It bothered him. They were _always _keeping secrets from him! "I gave it to Kouji because I couldn't find you," he replied. "And anyway, I demand to know what's going on. Tell me right now or else I'm going to tell Mom everything!"

Takuya exchanged a glance with Tommy, and then sighed. "Okay. Go ahead. Tell her whatever you want to. Not that it will make a difference." He grinned at his brother's shocked expression. "I have to go save the world, if you don't mind."

"I'm coming too," Tommy growled. There was a warning in his eyes. _Sheesh, _Taskuya thought, _It's dangerous to cross this kid. Haha. _"Or else I'll tell Shinya everything."

Takuya thought carefully about what to say, and finally nodded. "Tell him," he replied, shocking both younger boys. That wasn't what either of them had expected to hear. "I need to go somewhere on my own. Shinya should probably know what's going on so he doesn't get killed. You should probably stay here to protect the digimon. I need to get out of here before I get kidnapped again. Okay catch ya later." He dashed off, leaving a trail of sparks behind him.

Ah, how good it felt. To be digital again. He couldn't help loving it. And yet, he felt guilty. He was supposed to be human after all.

Someone crashed into him, knocking him to the ground. He rolled into the street, scraping his elbows and his head, and landed with an "oof" on the sidewalk, on the other side of the road. "What did you do that for?" he complained, opening his eyes. He blinked in surprise.

He was staring into two, large, green eyes.

"Hello?" he queried, sitting up. There in his arms was a fox-like creature, the same thing that he had turned into when Shinya had first pressed the "spirit evolve" button on his D-tector. The only difference was that this little fox creature had fiery wings and sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp teeth that stuck out of his mouth like a saber-tooth-tiger. He blinked in surprise, and grinned so wide his cheeks hurt. "Agunimon?" he asked hopefully.

The winged fox shook its head. "No," he stated, his voice lower than Agunimon's. It was almost a growl. It sounded so familiar too… "Not Agunimon. But you were close."

Takuya stared at the fox thoughtfully. If not Agunimon…then…. He gasped, suddenly remembering everything that JagerLowemon had told him. The pieces were all falling together. So that was what the wound in the sky was. It was the two digital worlds colliding, and the portal to the real world that was turning digimon half-real and separating the legendary warriors from their beast spirits.

Takuya grinned and hugged the fox tightly. "BurningGreymon," he exclaimed. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you! And man, you look ten times cooler than I do when I'm that form!"

BurningGreymon grinned, but pulled away from Takuya in annoyance. He didn't like hugs that much, but he _did _miss Takuya… "Course I do," he commented. "But that's beside the point. I need your help."

"Yeah, I figured. You always do."

BurningGreymon's expression betrayed that he wasn't feeling up for teasing right now. "Agunimon's been captured," he stated. "And something is happening. Can't you feel it? I don't like it, but I don't know what it is." He stared helplessly at the ground. "I am so lost here in the real world. I knew where to find your house, but you weren't there. I only know the places where you went when you came back to the real world that one time."

"When I tried to stop myself from going?" Takuya asked. "Yeah makes sense I guess." He stood up, aware of people staring at him strangely. That's right. They couldn't see BurningGreymon. "So where should we go?"

"I don't know. To save Agunimon?"

"If I go back there, I could get kidnapped again. I need to talk to the police. Oh wait…they can't see them. They're wearing digital shields like you are."

BurningGreymon sighed, and jumped down from Takuya's arms. "Here," he stated, growing to a much larger size. "Ride on my back and tell me where to go."

Takuya grinned, staring at his companion with an amazed expression. "Wow! How'd you do that? Can all the beast legendary warriors do that?"

BurningGreymon grinned in return. "Only if they are with their partners. Meaning I can only do it because I'm with you. You give me strength in the real world. If I weren't around you, I'd be helpless. I need to you Takuya, to be able function here."

Takuya got on his back, aware that he too was now protected by a digital shield. How cool… "So I'm your partner now?"

"Yes."

"What about Agunimon?"

"I suppose you are his partner too, just as he is mine."

"That's really confusing."

BurningGreymon grinned. "Not necessarily. So where are we off to?"

Takuya thought for a minute, and then decided. "To find Kouji. He has my D-tector."

BurningGreymon nodded, and leapt into the sky. Within seconds they were zooming through the city, searching. Takuya hoped it wouldn't take too long. The situation was getting worse every second! At least he had BurningGreymon now…..

(------)

Rika stared at Kazu and Kenta, a sneer on her face. "You thought I didn't have a clue what was going on?" she snapped. They stared at her innocently. "Well guess what. I already know."

"But do you know everything _we _know?" Kazu persisted, he rolled his eyes at her. It didn't matter that she was the prettiest girl in all of Japan—according to most of the guys—she was still a big nuisance.

Rika crossed her arms. "Well, I'm not stupid. If you have information, spill it. No wait…" she reached out and grabbed the two boy's arms, dragging them into her house. She still lived in the same big house, with the same big garden, the only difference was that she didn't spend much time in it. She was usually out at school, or with friends, or searching for a way to get Renamon back. It was like torture all these years not being able to see her, that she could hardly take a day to rest. She couldn't ever relax, and so she didn't. She filled her days with activities, because when she was alone she would cry. Not on the outside anymore, but still on the inside. She would never stop crying, as long as Renamon was gone.

She dragged the two boys into her house, pushing these thoughts out of her head. Why did she have to think about Renamon right now? Renamon wasn't here. Renamon couldn't be here. She would have to solve this problem on her own. _Never on your own, _she heard Renamon's voice telling her. _Not when you have friends like Takato and Henry…_

She tossed the two boys on the ground outside and closed the gate to her yard. "Okay, now that we're alone, I think you can tell me."

Kazu rubbed his arm and grumbled a few things. "Gosh Rika, can't you _ever _be nice to us?"

Rika stared at him blankly, not replying.

"Well anyway," Kenta pushed his glasses back on his face and then cleared his throat. "We know what's going on, and it's our job to tell you and Henry and Ryo and Jeri. So can you call them and have them come here?"

Rika frowned. "What about Takato? He's more helpful than the two of you put together."

"I guess we know something you DON'T then," Kazu sneered.

Kenta slapped his arm with a frown. "Takato's been kidnapped by the enemy," he said to Rika. "And that's half of what this is about."

Rika raised her eyebrows, shocked. Takato was kidnapped? She glanced back at the swirling vortex in the sky, so painful to look at, and then tore her gaze away from it. No. She wasn't going to look at it. Every time she did she felt drawn to go into it, hoping that perhaps she could see Renamon again….. "I'll call Henry," she whispered, walking into her house. She didn't really feel like calling Ryo, but she might as well.

_Oh Renamon. Will I ever see you again? Must I be so alone forever? _

It didn't take long for Henry to get there. All she had to do was tell him that Takato was kidnapped, and the world was in danger once again. It worked like magic. Ah, the relief of having a friend like Henry. He was always there when you needed him. She blinked, and pushed that thought out of her head. What was she thinking? Start thinking like that about a guy, and the next thing you know, you like him! No, she didn't have time for that.

No time for guys. Not even… she sighed. No. There was no time to think about guys. There was a bigger problem at stake. And that was where her focus was required. She turned and joined the group, grateful to see that Henry had arrived. Ryo joined soon after, but Suzie did not come with Henry, and Jeri refused to come at all. She said she was too upset. Whatever.

Rika stared at everyone solemnly, then turned her gaze to Kazu and Kenta. "Okay," she stated firmly. "Tell us what is going on. I have an idea, but if you have some source of information that I don't, then spill. I'm sure you know how vital it is that we know everything."

"Yeah, yeah," Kazu rolled his eyes. "Okay so I'll start, and Kenta can fill in where I forget things. Just don't interrupt all the time."

"You interrupt me all the time."

"Well that's different."

Rika rolled here eyes and exchanged glances with Henry. _Here we go again…_

(------)

Takato opened his dry, aching eyes, and wondered if they were bloodshot. They sure felt that way… He blinked and frowned, staring up at the faces that were peering down into his. Wait…he wasn't in his cage anymore? Wha….What just happened?

He was staring into the Boss's face. "Where am I?" he asked, confused. He was aware of the other ninja—not Midias—behind the Boss, a confused and annoyed look on his face. The Boss simply looked relieved. Relieved? About what?

"You're alive?" The Boss asked gruffly, seemingly trying to disguise the relief in his voice. _He was worried about me? _"Well no matter. That shouldn't have happened to you." He stood up and walked out of Takato's line of sight. The ninja followed, leaving him lying on…on what? And where?

Takato sat up dizzily, trying to get a good look around. He was still in the warehouse, but instead of being in his cage he was lying on the floor in the middle of the room. He was not handcuffed, or tied, or anything. But he was lying on somebody's jacket for a pillow. Did he almost….die or something? Or maybe he had simply scared them. Something must have gone wrong with their experiment. Or maybe….maybe it affected him because he too was wearing a collar. Whatever was going on, it was weird. And whatever they knew, he had no clue. But since he was out, he might as well free the other digimon…

He tried to stand, and found that he was too weak. He nearly collapsed back onto the floor. Okay, so he'd have to free them another time. His eyes threatened to close again, but he fought to keep them open. They closed anyway, and he drifted into a half-awake, half-asleep state. For a while nothing happened. But then he began to hear voices.

"_You returned. Did you get seven more?"_

"_Yes sir. And I caught that fox again."_

"_Set the cages here. And put these collars on them."_

There was a long pause, and Takato wasn't sure if he was missing part of the conversation.

"_Are you sure it's the same fox?"_

"_Well….I was, but now that you mention it…"_

"_It doesn't matter. We have what we need now."_

"_What about the boy? Why is he out? Don't you know what he could do? Don't you know what he is?"_

There was another pause, this time shorter.

_"I know as much about him as you do, mercenary. But it is none of your concern. See that collar on his neck? That gives me control over him. The experiment didn't go as well as it would have with 30 creatures, but it still worked. And surprisingly, it worked on him too."_

"_But that's impossible!"_

"_Did I ask for your opinion? You've done what I asked, now start guarding this place like you're supposed to. I have everything under control. Understand?"_

"_Of course sir."_

That was undeniably Midias' voice. He was sneering at the Boss hatefully, as usual. It was clear he didn't like Takato being out of the cage, nor did he like the Boss. What a weird situation. Takato had no idea who to trust and what to think about any of them. First they were evil, and then they were confusing. Why was the Boss, Yamaki's twin, so worried about him? Could it be that he knew who Takato was? Still, it didn't make sense. What was supposed to happen now?

_"Takato, Takato," _the Boss sighed, nearly startling Takato out of his sleep-like state. _"What is it about you that makes this happen? And why is it so essential to my plan?"_

He stood and walked out, leaving Takato to lie semi-unconscious on the floor. It wasn't very long until that semi-unconsciousness turned into complete unconsciousness, and Takato had absolutely no idea of all the things that happened next, nor did he have a clue how incredibly close to death he was about to come.

(------)

**So that is where I'll end. Since no one reads this anyway, you guys are missing out on one of my best stories ever. Gosh. Please just read it! And please just review! Even if you don't like it! PLEASE!**

**Okay whatever. I hope you're interested now. It's one of the best Tamers/Frontier Crossovers I've ever written! So anyway…until next time!**

**Rika195**


	8. Finally, The Truth

**Kidnapped, Chapter 8, is it? Something like that.**

_**Hey everyone, **_this chapter is a very special chapter for a very special reason. One of my most awesome reviewers and friends and fellow authors helped me with this chapter. Let's all give **Evide **a round of applause, please?

(Round of applause)

This chapter is dedicated to **Evide **for several reasons. She totally helped me with a very important character who up to this chapter has not been in my story, but plays a crucial role in it. She proof read all the parts with him, and I borrowed and used a lot of what she wrote. So the credit for anything good that comes out of this chapter goes to her. Thank you very much **Evide**! You are amazing! It was total writers-block until you helped me out.

And now in answer to all your wonderful reviews…

**Kimiko Kinomoto**: Haha! If you are worried about Takato, you should be. Really. This chapter isn't as much about him as it is about explaining all the questions that are being asked, and coming up with the answer. I figured I had to do that in order for the story to really take flight, you know? You'll be surprised just how much is going on. Glad you like it though! Keep reading and reviewing! hehehe.

**takuya**: Thank you very much! I am sorry you all had to wait while I was in Japan for a long time. But now I can finaly get it up here. Thanks for your review, and thanks for waiting patiently, even though you said you couldn't wait. Hope you're still interested.

**black peeches**: Sure you're good at reviews. Sometimes though I have problems trying to think of something helpful or critical to say, and then I just can't find anything, and say "it's awesome!" At least, that is what I say when I write reviews for other people sometimes. Anyway, I hope you still like it. How ya doing by the way? When are you coming to visit? hehe.

**Mega-soul.exe:** Oh thank you. And thanks for finally coming out of the shadows and reviewing. I am very happy. I hope you were just kidding when you said you hate me, and I hope you wont hate me by the end of this chapter. Sorry it took so long. I was in Japan on a mission trip you know. Well, enjoy! and Thanks a million! I like it better when you review, too, even if it is just to say "yo" or "P" or something. I'm cool with that.

**Evide**: Man. What can I say? you're awesome. Amazing. This story wouldn't have kept going if it werent for you. So the person who said they hated me for ending it last chapter would have hated me more if you didn't help me out. So thanks a million! I hope I can repay you someday. By the way, if you hadn't noticed, this chapter is dedicated to you.

**Mattchew**: First...Cool name. Second... I would appreciate it if you didn't swear in your reviews to my story, but I'm not going to get angry or anything. I just don't personally think swearing is needed, cause I can get the picture already. I'm not mad, just making a small request which I wont be particularily upset if you ignore. But I had to put it out there. Third... ARE YOU SERIOUS? REALLY? YOU ARE AWESOME! I get excited when people say they like my stories. I hope you still like it, and I really thank you for your review. Sorry it took so long to get here. I hope you haven't forgotten...

(------)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Digimon, so these characters are not my own. I am simply borrowing them for a story.

**However**, I do own Midias and the Boss guy. Doncha wish you knew his name? Hehehehe.

**Also**: Lobomon as his half-digital half-animal look and basically all the other digimon looking like that (besides Flamon) are ideas that have been done before, but these particular versions are my idea. But since digimon doesn't belong to me, I don't know if I can claim them.

Okay enough of that. Let's go.

(------)

"You say the collar gives you the ability to control him, but I say he'll find a way to use the collar against you. Don't you know what he is?"

Takato frowned, opening his eyes just barely so he could where he was. The first thing he could see was the table, the next was the cages with the captive digimon in them. Then he remembered the warehouse.

_I'm still here, _he thought, his spirits falling. He had hoped it was all a dream. _At any rate, whatever happened, I feel completely normal now…_

"I am completely aware of what you are thinking of, mercenary, but it is of no concern."

That was the Boss. Underneath his probably calm and emotionless expression was a hint of extreme annoyance.

"Then I suppose you are unconcerned about what just happened?" Midias sounded just as annoyed. "If I were you, I would be…"

"But you're NOT me, are you?" the Boss shouted, his anger suddenly taking control of his normally calm exterior. It startled Takato, and he forgot about pretending to still be asleep. He opened his eyes and turned his head, watching the exchange of words between the two men. "I am in charge here. Have you forgotten that? You are being paid for your help, and you get your share of the profit from the experiment. I know what I am doing, you slimy telepath. Do not treat me like an idiot because I can't read minds like you can."

Midias glared at him, his fighting nature almost tempting him into attacking Yamaki's twin. But he finally relaxed, letting out his held in tension with a slow exhale. "I don't, sir," he lied. "I will hold my tongue."

"Good. I appreciate your input, but not when you are trying to take over." The Boss frowned angrily. "I know what you are thinking, ninja, because you are easy to read. Don't think that reading minds has made you superior. Because it hasn't. Now go back to your duties."

"Yes sir. But what about this digimon we captured? It's not like the others. It is still completely digital."

"I'll figure that out. For now, get out. I need some quiet." The Boss glared at Midias till he left, and seated himself with a sigh at the table. It didn't take long for him to notice that Takato was awake, and had been listening to their conversation. "So you've finally returned from the dead," he snapped. "Have you rested enough?"

Takato stared at him blankly, trying to think. His head didn't hurt anymore, but he was trying to decipher the conversation that had just taken place. They were obviously arguing about him. And though he was completely fine now, as long as he pretended to be sick he could stay out of the cage. So that was a good thing to keep in mind.

And what was this other digimon they were talking about? If it were still completely digital, unlike these others, than it had to have been here at the real world before the portal had been opened. And the only digimon he knew of that could have been here would have been Guilmon! _Oh no, _he thought, striving to keep a look of bewilderment on his face as if he was still out of it. _Not Guilmon. Please no! _But he knew it couldn't be anyone else. _Why did you have to get captured Guilmon? _He cried inwardly. But there was nothing he could do about it except hope he was wrong.

He was aware of the Boss asking him questions, but pretended like he couldn't hear what he was saying. He had to think of a plan. He couldn't just lay here and be sick. When the Boss left the room, he had to find a way to free these digimon and take the collars off. If he freed JagerLowemon, the big cat digimon might be able to help the others. He seemed to be the most powerful, and he knew what was going on. Takuya should be getting help, right about now, so there was still hope.

Oh no, that's right. Takuya had been captured again. Takato lazily turned his head to look at Takuya's cage, and watched the little digimon sitting silently inside. Wait, that couldn't be the same digimon, could it? It looked different somehow. And for one, it was much calmer. It had the same look that JagerLowemon carried. The look of maturity, even though he was small. It couldn't be Takuya, because he just didn't make expressions like that. So it was a different one? Well, whatever the truth was, he was sure he wasn't going to be finding out for a while.

"Takato!" the Boss yelled, startling Takato so much he jerked uncomfortably.

Takato glanced up at him, a freaked look on his face. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, trying to sound dazed. "I…I'm sorry I just…." He relaxed and stared up at the Boss blankly. "I feel wrong," he said finally. The Boss gave him a strange look.

"Wrong?" he pressed. Takato could have sworn there was a look of satisfaction on his face, but then again, it could have been something else. This was so confusing. The Boss was so hard to read. "How so?"

Takato continued to stare at him, and then frowned. How was he supposed to say this when in truth, he didn't actually feel 'wrong' at all? "I feel like I'm not really here," he stated eventually, making it up as he went. "Like I've lost part of me."

The Boss nodded, and stood up. Even though Takato was awake, he left him lying there an walked out. What did it mean? Had Takato just given him some false information that might make his plan mess up? He didn't feel all that different at all. Well…maybe he did feel slightly different, but perhaps it was just the uncomfortable feeling of having an uncomfortable collar around his neck lying on an uncomfortable cement floor.

Whatever had just happened, he had no idea. But for now, he was alone. Time to work on removing the collars. If Takuya could figure it out, perhaps he could. He sat up and looked around, gingerly feeling the collar around his neck. It felt warm, and intimidating. No matter, he'd get to work. He felt along it carefully, trying to find an edge or a bump or anything to determine where it clicked together. Just when he thought he was getting close, someone jumped down beside him.

"You forget that I'm supposed to be guarding you, idiot," Midias hissed in his ear. Takato gulped, suddenly very afraid. "I can read your mind easily. You think so clearly. Did you know that? Well now you know." He held up a syringe filled with a clear, yellowish liquid. "My duty is to guard you, and make sure you don't try anything. Okay so I'm doing that."

He glared at Takato with a sinister expression, and forced Takato to lie flat on his face, holding his arms behind his back. "I also know how dangerous you are. I saw what happened when you called from your digimon friend during the experiment. I know how much more you could do if given the opportunity. Well guess what." He stuck the needle in Takato's shoulder, despite his efforts to get away. "I'm not going to stand by and let it happen." He injected the liquid into his victim's blood stream, and then stood up.

Takato flipped over onto his back, trying to get up, but the effect of the drug was already beginning to take over. He felt so weird…so awful…this drug…what was it doing to him?

"I hope you die, Tamer," Midias hissed. "Because nothing is going to stop me from succeeding. Not even the Boss." He turned and walked out, vanishing into his hiding place like the ninja he was.

Takato reached out, called Guilmon's name in one last effort to stay awake, and knew no more.

(------)

Kouji blinked, dizzy, and realized that he had just ran into someone, and knocked them over. He had fallen on top of them, pinning them to the ground, and he hoped fervently that whoever it was hadn't gotten hurt. He blushed madly, and prayed as hard as he could that he wouldn't be on top of a girl right now. He was afraid of opening his eyes to find out, but he figured whoever it was he was pinning down would be getting annoyed right about now.

He slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring into a mirror that was his twin brother, Kouichi. _Thank goodness it's my brother and not a girl! _He sighed, relieved. He was still blushing, because it was an awkward situation, but he was so glad it was just Kouichi he almost started laughing. But that would be so unlike him…

"Kouji?" Kouichi asked timidly. Kouji snapped out of his thoughts and stared at his brother. He looked lost and confused, and there was a gaunt look in his face. The younger twin stood up quickly, helping his brother up, and then frowned at how sickly he looked.

"Kouichi, what's wrong? You look awful!" Kouji said protectively. He almost marched Kouichi home right then and there, but hesitated. He was supposed to be saving two worlds here…

Kouichi pointed to the sky, an aching look in his eyes. "That's what's wrong," he whispered. There was a strange expression on his face, almost a look of dread. "Can you see it Kouji? In the sky like that? Two worlds destroying each other…all on account of…" his voice trailed off, and he dropped his eyes to the ground. "Never mind," he mumbled, turning to walk away.

Kouji frowned and grabbed his shoulder. "Kouichi, stop." He turned his brother so that he faced him, and glared into his eyes questioningly. "Are you okay? You look…sick or something." All he could think about was the empty look in his brother's eyes, and never even listened to what his brother had said. That look…It was frighteningly familiar. He had now the same look as that when he had carried the corrupted spirits of darkness; Duskmon and Velgrmon. The same look he'd had when he lay half-dead in the hospital, only half there and only half in control of himself. It was like that now—only half there, and only half in control.

Kouji couldn't help to be frightened by that lost look, as if Kouichi could just disappear inside of himself at any moment. He was afraid he might loose his brother. "Kouichi, I think you should go home," he said worriedly. "This isn't like you."

"No, I c-can't," Kouichi insisted in a quiet voice. "Not with that horrible thing in the sky. Can't you see it? Doesn't it hurt just to look at it?" Kouichi asked him again, almost pleadingly.

Kouji glanced at the portal in the sky, and shivered. "Yeah I see it," he whispered. Then he turned away from it. It did hurt to look at it. It felt like it would draw him into it, and destroy him. It felt as empty as Kouichi's eyes looked. "But I'm going to stop it," Kouji said firmly. He glanced at his brother. "Do you know anything about it?"

"I….m-maybe…" Kouichi replied hesitantly. He covered his eyes in an attempt not to look at it, and shifted his gaze elsewhere. That was when he noticed Kouji's strange and unique companion. He blinked, and then a mixed expression flicked across his face. "Is that….Lobomon?"

"Yes," Lobomon replied, his voice gruffly matter-of-fact, but not unkind toward his human's twin. "I am, but don't change the subject. We need to know everything we can about this portal," Lobomon continued. "Do you know anything about it, Kouichi-kun?"

"I don't know…" Kouichi muttered.

"You don't know?" Lobomon asked. He looked suspicious, but Kouji gave him a look that meant 'be nice.' He sighed and rolled his eyes. "If you don't know anything about it, why are you going towards it? It could be dangerous."

"I'm…" Kouichi blinked and stared at Lobomon, and then clamped his mouth shut. For a minute no one said a word. Kouji was staring intently on his brother, trying to figure out what the best thing to do for his brother was. Lobomon stared into Kouichi's eyes, unblinking. The older twin fidgeted, glancing from side to side. "Am I going towards it?" he asked finally.

"Um…" Kouji turned and looked behind himself at the portal, then turned back to his brother with a frown. "Yeah, yeah you are. You need to be careful. Lobomon says if you look at it too long you could get sucked into it. I don't want you going anywhere near it, got it?" He searched Kouichi's face, trying to see if his twin would actually listen to what he was saying. _Poor Onii-chan, _He thought with a sigh. _I can tell it's affecting him. He looks so confused; that stupid portal is really affecting him. His eyes look the same way it feels!_

"Are you sure?" Lobomon persisted. "Maybe you know something about it that could help us stop it. We need to know, Kouichi-kun. Any and every fact can and will help us. That thing is putting many lives in danger."

"I know! Why do you keep asking me that?" Kouichi suddenly yelled, pulling away from them. His sudden outburst startled Kouji and Lobomon immensely, and both instantly quieted. Anxiously, both looked at the pale twin with even more worry than they had felt before.

Lobomon was shocked. He hadn't expected to get yelled at for an honest question, especially one that was so vital. He had no idea if he had said something wrong. Besides, Kouichi never yelled like that. Never. Not even when he was angry. In fact, when he was angry, his voice got softer. He only yelled when he was afraid.

Kouichi refused to meet their eyes, and instead looked anywhere but at them. He fidgeted anxiously. "You think I'm hiding something? Yeah? Well…" He stopped shouting and backed up. "Just leave me alone."

Kouji tried not to look hurt, and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Kouichi…" he whispered sagely. He could see the pain and guilt in his brother's eyes, but he didn't understand why. "Onii-chan…"

Kouichi's eyes filled with tears, and he pulled away from them as quickly as he could. "Don't call me that," he blurted, tears spilling over and rolling down his pale cheeks. He struggled to speak, and then finally choked out, "I don't deserve it." With that he turned and fled.

It took a while for Kouji to find his voice, but when he did, he found his resolve as well.

"Something happened," he growled. "And it seems Kouichi knows something after all."

"I agree," Lobomon sighed, leaving out the things he wished to say about how dense Kouji had been in the beginning. "And whatever it is has something to do with him."

"And don't hurt his feelings," Kouji snapped as a warning. "You treated him like he's someone to pry information out of. He's my brother and he's hurting!"

Lobomon frowned, disagreeing with the statement about treating Kouichi badly. "Please, Kouji! I'm trying to be practical." Lobomon hopped onto Kouji's shoulder. "You don't have to protect him from me you know." Kouji huffed to himself, but couldn't deny it. He was making a point. Kouji did tend to be a little over-protective, especially when it came to his brother.

"I'm going to help him." Kouji stated, and without wasting another second, dashed off after his brother. He completely forgot about following the ninja. "If anyone has hurt you they're going to pay…" Kouji hissed, lost in his thoughts.

Lobomon chuckled lightly at his partners passion. It very same that he had counted on when he had chose Kouji to be the bearer of his spirits. The passion to save the innocent and protect those he loved; the heart of a true warrior.

But never mind that. Kouichi was in trouble. Three whole worlds were in trouble. _It couldn't get worse than this_, Lobomon sighed internally, staring off into the distance. _Kouichi knows something. Perhaps he knows a lot, maybe even why the portal was there. Could that be why he had that guilty look in his eyes? There has to be a reason for that. It wasn't Kouichi's fault the portal was there, but then what was that look he had in his eyes? ...It was almost like... like the portal was an echo of what Kouichi was feeling._

Lobomon kept this thought to himself. To tell this thought to Kouji about his brother would probably sever their friendship for a little bit, especially when he was in his brotherly-protective mode. He sighed. Perhaps it wasn't anything. Perhaps he was just making it all up. But it was a thought to keep in mind. Kouichi did know something. But how much? He prayed they'd be able to find out, soon.

(------)

"How am I ever going to find him?" Takuya complained. He walked past house after house, simply wandering down the streets near where he lived. He didn't want to go anywhere near the portal in the sky, nor did he was to go anywhere near the place he got captured. There was that horrible feeling of fear that the telepathic ninja would recognize his thoughts and catch him again. He was a ninja after all, and Takuya…. He was just a teenager. What could he do?

"Takuya, please?" BurningGreymon groaned. He had been walking beside Takuya for a long time now. They would be flying, but since people couldn't see BurningGreymon but could see Takuya, that was way too suspicious. "We've already walked around this same block three or four times!"

"We have?" Takuya stopped walking and looked around him sheepishly. That must look pretty weird. You just didn't do that kind of thing in Japan. He sighed. "Well then, what now?" Slowly, he lifted his eyes and gazed off into the distance. Downtown. The portal reached the ground somewhere downtown. If Kouji was anywhere, he was probably near the portal. "This is ridiculous," he groaned. "I just know that Kouji is going to be exactly where I don't want to go. He always is! And I need my D-tector!"

"Yes, I know. It would be easier to fly, but since that is too dangerous, we could always run," BurningGreymon looked over at the portal. "As much as I hate going near that thing again, I think you're right. We should go in that direction."

"It beats pacing around in circles anyway…"

"By a LONG shot." BurningGreymon chuckled, and then started running. "So what are you waiting for? I'll race you, slow poke!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Takuya chased after his partner, running as fast as he could. There were sparks trailing behind him as he ran, and it didn't take long to pass up his partner and get into first place. He knew that BurningGreymon simply wanted to follow Takuya instead of lead because he didn't know the streets very well, but it still felt good to be in the lead.

He rather enjoyed running so fast. It was like he could run faster, like he wasn't really human after all. He was still digimon, with all the pros and none of the cons. Were there any cons? Probably not. He hadn't heard of any yet. The only people with cons were normal humans. Heck, they couldn't see what was going on. They had no idea. The portal was invisible to them. The digimon were invisible to them. The ninja were invisible to them. Everything had a digital shield, and even if he did go get the police, all the police would be able to see would be an empty warehouse.

"They're too smart," Takuya sighed, talking to himself instead of BurningGreymon. "And they make me angry. I can't believe what they're doing. They're turning digimon into something they're not, and stranding them here on Earth, AND destroying their world while they're at it! And for what, some experiment?" He was getting angrier with every second. "It's probably just a way to get money too. Why do people have to be so centered on money! Money isn't everything! Neither is power! Sheesh, people can be so stupid sometimes!"

If he had been looking where he was going, or noticing who was around him, he might not have been talking out loud. But this time, he was lucky. For once, no one was around to overhear him except BurningGreymon and one person, and that one person was someone he knew. The only embarrassing thing for Takuya now was that the only thing the one person heard before getting knocked over was: "Sheesh, people can be so stupid sometimes!"

So now Takuya found himself bumping into someone, knocking them flat of their back, and bonking heads with them as he pinned them to the ground. He blushed, embarrassed, and figured that the only person who was being stupid right now was himself. To top it all of, he could hear his partner snickering at him in the background. He jumped up and helped the other person up apologetically, trying to ignore BurningGreymon's snide remarks. He was relieved to find that it was just Kouichi.

"Oh man, Kouichi!" Takuya sighed. "It's just you. I was afraid it was someone….I dunno…that shouldn't be overhearding. But you're okay." He glanced back to indicate to BurningGreymon that everything was alright, and was shocked to find that his partner was nowhere in sight! That was weird. Maybe he was hiding or something. Perhaps someone dangerous was around.

Kouichi stared at him strangely, as if he had no idea how to reply to that, and simply shrugged. Takuya was always off in his own world, totally oblivious to the fact that nobody besides himself followed his train of thought. "Um, whatever Takuya. I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

Kouichi proceeded to walk by, but Takuya stopped him. "No wait," Takuya pleaded, placing a hand on the twin's shoulder. "I need your help Kouichi! And besides, I knocked you over, so let me apologize first."

"You already did, it's okay. Besides…You're the second person to knock me over today…" Kouichi couldn't help giving a half-smile. He seemed like something was troubling him, but he also seemed like he didn't want to talk about it.

That was fine by Takuya. Besides, there was something Takuya wanted to talk about, and it was important. Kouichi's little problem could wait until he was ready to talk to Kouji or someone.

"Well, I'm sorry bout that. Really? You got knocked over twice? Ouch! Not your day is it?" Takuya teased. The look on Kouichi's face was evidence that no, it most definitely was not. Takuya sighed. Poor guy. He looked like he was having an awful day. So he opened his mouth and stuck his foot in it. "Man Kouichi, are you okay? You look like you're having a really bad day. Anything going wrong?"

Kouichi simply glared at him. "What are you stupid?" he practically yelled, startling Takuya greatly. "Of course something is wrong! Or hadn't you noticed?" Kouichi pointed behind him at the vortex, practically seething with anger. "You look at that and tell me nothing is wrong!"

Takuya felt a shiver go up his spine, although he had no idea why. It simply felt like everything had gotten ten times worse, like the worst thing that could possibly happen had happened. But he had no idea what that meant. "Kouichi, I know, I'm sorry, I just thought….Oh nevermind. I always do that don't I?" He sighed. "But that's why I'm here. I'm going to find help. I was just kidnapped by the people who did that, and I am going to get help. Course, I need to get my D-tector first in order too…."

"Takuya I have to go…" Kouichi snapped, his voice cracking. He covered his face with his arms, and tried to run away, but BurningGreymon jumped in his way. The digimon had grown in size, and was growling ferociously. He jumped in front of Kouichi, growling and glowing with fire.

"BurningGreymon," Takuya scolded, "What are you doing?"

His partner ignored him, and continued growling until Kouichi backed up and stayed next to Takuya. Before Takuya could open his mouth to ask questions, someone else ran up behind him.

"Kouichi! There you are!" Kouji ran up as fast as he could, grabbing his brother in a bear hug and hugging him tightly. "Why did you run away like that? Did someone hurt you? Attack you? Do something to you? Tell me now!"

Takuya watched in totally confusion, unable to say anything. Kouji continued to hug and talk to Kouichi until the older twin couldn't take it anymore. He shoved Kouji back, hung his head, and stayed like that for several minutes. Finally he couldn't hold in the emotions that were tearing him up from the inside, and simply fell to the ground crying. That was when BurningGreymon stopped growling and shrank back to his small size.

"What is this all about?" Takuya asked. "Is Kouichi okay?"

"I don't know," someone said seriously. Takuya turned to find a little wolf digimon next to him, and blinked in surprise when it jumped up and situation itself on his back/shoulder. "I think he knows something…something that may make this entire situation even more dangerous. And frankly, it is either tearing him apart, or making him feel really guilty. The only thing now is to get him to tell us what it is he knows."

Takuya sighed and crossed his arms. "So you growled at him to stop him from running away?" He asked his partner.

"I had to. I saw Lobomon coming, and I could also sense the turmoil in Kouichi. I knew you wouldn't be able to get it out of him, so I stopped him from running until Kouji could catch up to him." The fox-digimon shrugged. "And yes, before you ask, this is Lobomon."

"I was about to ask," Takuya admitted, closing his mouth that he had opened in the middle of BurningGreymon's explanation. "Anyway, I think maybe we should all talk about what we know. And we need to get help. They may have already begun the experiment by now, and I don't know what it does!"

"They have," BurningGreymon said gravely. "I can feel it. They have already done it to Agunimon now. At least, they have done part of it."

"Can you tell what it is supposed to do?" Lobomon asked, confused. "Who is doing an experiment? And why?"

"Dude, we have too many questions we can't answer in one sitting," Takuya said with a sigh. "Come on. Let's get those two before they both start crying." Takuya glanced at Kouji and Kouichi, slightly jealous that as brothers, they were so close. He and HIS brother weren't like these two. Kouji had knelt down on the ground so that he could place a hand on his twin's shoulder, while Kouichi sat with his face in his hands, crying. He kept whispering something over and over, something Takuya could not pick up, and Kouji answered him so quietly that Takuya wasn't even sure he was talking at all. Kouichi was no longer trying to get away from his brother. He simply sat there, accepting the company.

"Agreed," Lobomon sighed. There was a look of pain on his face, as if he too could pick up on the hurts that Kouji was feeling for his brother. "Let's go somewhere that will be safer for this." He glanced around the area warily, protectively. "I have the feeling that we are being watched."

"We are," Kouichi said weakly, suddenly lifting his face from his hands. His eyes were blood shot, and he looked so sick at heart Takuya almost started crying too. "Don't you understand? Of course we're being watched!" he wiped his face solemnly. "And it's all my fault. I know you all will disagree, but you're wrong."

"So okay…" Takuya crossed his arms. "You're saying that everything that is happening is your fault? And that we are being watched? No we don't understand!"

"A little less harsh," BurningGreymon warned under his breath. "I don't think he can handle being scolded."

"Whatever," Kouichi sighed, standing up. "I'm done crying." His head dropped so that his hair covered his face. He looked like he wished he could vanish away and never breathe another breath. "Kouji's right. This is a big problem, and just because I helped it happen doesn't mean I deserve to die, it means I need to snap out of it and help you reverse it. It's just…" he sniffed loudly. "…It's just that, if it weren't for me, it never would have happened."

Takuya lifted his hand and opened his mouth, about to say that Kouichi was being ridiculous, but then stopped. His vision traveled past Kouichi, to a man standing being him, grinning widely. He could only stare at the man dressed in black as he simply stood listening to everything that was being said. Takuya gulped and tried to say something, but he was too afraid. All he kept asking himself was "How on earth did he get here? And why is he here?" And even more than that, "Does he recognize me?"

Midias, the ninja, walked forward, a smug look on his face. "Well isn't this a surprise," he said with a chuckle. "I knew something strange was going on, but not THIS strange. I am VERY interested." He rubbed his hands together, and stopped walking when he stood right in front of Takuya. "So you're the stupid, annoying, aggravating creature that never gave me a moments peace?"

Takuya grinned sheepishly, and shrugged. "I guess…" he decided to change his mind on what he was about to say. "…..that you are a really weird and confused person. Good bye. Come on guys lets go…" he dashed off as quickly as he could, but didn't go further than two feet before finding himself knocked flat on his face. Midias kicked him over and stepped on him, grinning evilly down in his face.

"Listen up you piece of trash," he growled. Though a grin was on his face, it was perfectly clear that he was furious about something. "I am here for one reason only, and you just happened to be here too. But if you do as I say, I'll let you go. Deal?"

Takuya frowned. "Hey wait a second, you said you'd let ME go…." He glanced over at Kouji and Kouichi and the two digimon, who were too shocked and totally confused to know what was going on. "What about them?"

"I liked you better when I thought you were stupid." The ninja rolled his eyes and kicked Takuya over to the others. "Whatever, I don't care. I'm simply here to make sure things go my way. I don't want to be caught on the wrong end when it all comes down into chaos." He turned and started walking away.

"What do you mean, chaos?" Takuya persisted, standing up. For some reason, he didn't feel quite as afraid of Midias as he once had. It was almost like Midias was afraid of the same thing that he was. Either that, or he was just so stupid he he couldn't feel enmity against anyone.

"Chaos," Kouichi answered in a sigh, sounded devastated. "That vortex is what he's talking about. He doesn't want to be the one who gets killed when you-know-who emerges from it."

Everyone went silent, and even Midias stopped walking to turn around and stare at Kouichi with an expression of terror.

"Kouichi, what are you talking about?" Kouji ventured. "Who do you mean? Who is going to emerge from it?"

Everyone waited, frozen, unable to say anything. Suddenly, the situation just seemed to get much, much worse.

"So instead of answering my questions, you just gave me a ton more," Takuya groaned. "This is fun."

"You…." Midias whispered, pointing his finger at Kouichi as he backed up. "You're the one…The one he was talking about!"

"The one who was talking about?"

"Takuya, shut up," BurningGreymon hissed.

Everyone was silent again, until Kouichi decided to speak. "Fine, you all want to know whats going to happen? I'll tell you. I know exactly what's going to happen, exactly what is happening, and exactly why it's happened. What I can't tell you, is how to stop it." He dropped his head again, about to cry. "The first thing I need to tell you though, is that I did it."

Kouji frowned, a look of confusion and concern etched on his face. He placed his hand on Kouichi's shoulder. "Kouichi, you did what? What did you do?"

Kouichi breathed with difficultly, trying to find the words to say, and then gave one shuddering sigh. "I…opened the portal," he whispered.

Everyone stared at him with confusion, and then Takuya couldn't take it any longer. "YOU did it?" he blurted loudly. "WHY?"

Midias didn't give him a chance to answer.

(------)

Rika stared at the two boys, Kazu and Kenta, in disbelief. They had tried to tell her everything about the portal, about the two worlds, and about the digimon. The only thing that she didn't know was WHY all this was happening. It just didn't make sense! But if, the portal was killing digimon, then Renamon was probably in danger!

"You guys, we have to do something!" she said angrily. "I would rely on Takato for help, but he's kidnapped! And if I'm guessing correctly, the people who kidnapped him are probably the ones who are doing all this stuff!" She clenched her hands into fists. "This just makes me so angry!"

She noticed everyone take a slight step back, away from her, and tried not to crack a smile. So they were still afraid of her angry moods. She ignored this and seethed for a little bit, and then decided that something had to be done. She wasn't going to sit around. It wasn't like her.

"So what's the plan?" she asked. "Obviously this is bigger than we are. We have to go about it carefully. How do we stop this?"

"We should call the police," Kenta replied. "Duh! We need their help!"

"For a DIGIMON problem? I don't think so." Rika couldn't believe how stupid he was being. "We never needed the police before, and we don't now….yet. What can they do anyway? They can't stop Yakuza. How could they stop something like this?"

"I think we need to have one of us get kidnapped too," Henry said thoughtfully. "So that we can find out where they are, and work from there. Or at least, we need some kind of bait to get the enemy to present himself."

"But…that could be dangerous!" Kenta persisted. "I seriously think we should call the police!"

"And tell them what, that a portal in the sky is destroying two digital worlds and eating up our world in the process, and that some maniac is capturing digimon to do who knew what to them, and everything needed to be stopped?" Ryo "pfft" and rolled his eyes. "You know THAT'S going to go over well!"

"Well, you guys do what you want. I'M going to call the police and tell them. Me and Kazu will do what we can. You guys are just going to leave us out anyway."

Ryo, Henry, and Rika said nothing. They had nothing to say. Kenta was right, after all. They were prone to leaving the two boys out when it came to things like this. The relied on them, of course, but not to do the kinds of things that they did. Kenta and Kazu were good for their own thing. Like….calling the police.

Rika sighed and gave in. "Okay, maybe you're right. I just hope they don't put you in an insane asylum or anything."

"Great. I'll borrow your phone." Ketna grabbed her house phone before she could argue, and dialed 9-1-1.

"What are you crazy?" she screamed.

Too late. Kenta was through. "Yes, I need help, I am a witness to something being destroyed over here, and there's nothing I can do about it. Can I get an officer down here?"

Rika cringed. Oh man, that was bad. Couldn't he have said anything else?

"I need help, because I don't know what to do," Kenta continued nervously, answering the operators questions. "It's scary, and…no….just one will be fine. Who what? Well, its like this vortex thing destroying….er…no this isn't a prank call. I really need help!"

He sighed and hung up. "An officer is going to be here soon," he said.

Everyone simply stared at him. "Well, I have to hand it to you," Ryo said with a stretch, "you are a lot braver than you used to be. But I don't know if that was the wisest thing to do. You should have gone down to the police box. Who knows what's going to turn up here. You could have just put us in Jail you know!"

It didn't take long for the police to arrive. They marched in, and quickly found the Tamers. There were three of them.

Rika knew that they would be furious, but she figured Kenta would never be able to talk to them face to face. She glanced over at him. Yep, he was shaking now. He probably wouldn't be able to tell them about the portal. It was probably her responsibility. They had come to her house after all.

"This is ridiculous," she thought, but gave in. She stepped up and bowed. "Officers, excuse me for the call, but there is a devastating problem that could easily destroy the world as we know it if something isn't done about it. We would handle it on our own, but we don't think we can. We need your help."

"Let me guess," one of the officers said, placing his hands on his hips with a sigh. "It's the vortex thing in the sky, right?"

The Tamers were too stunned to know what to say.

"Yeah we've gotten calls about it. However I look in the same spot every time and can't see a thing. I don't know what you kids think you're doing, but it's getting on my nerves."

"But sir, it really is there!" Kenta pleaded.

"That's not even the point, idiot," Rika snapped. "The point is, the problem is beyond our control, and we don't even know what to do." She almost said more, then realized that she was embarrassing herself. She blushed and shut up.

"Well I see it," a different officer said blandly. Everyone looked up at him hopefully. "Not it in the sky, but I see evidence of it." He glanced at the other officer with a slight smirk. It was evident the two were competing. "For one, we've had six calls now, and none of the people calling knew about the others. For another, if you go investigate the place where they claim this portal or vortex or whatever touches ground, there is evidence of something going on. It feels like the wind is blowing from all direction into one spot, and sucking you into it. Heck, I felt like I was being sucked into something, and if I wasn't sure of where my feet were planted, I would vanish off the face of the earth!" he shuddered. "I say once again, we should pay attention to this."

Rika could only stand there in silence as there was a slight argument, and then people began talking. Six calls? Six? But that couldn't be right…everyone was here….how could there be six calls? But only Tamers could see it, right? Wait…..two digital worlds…..two sets of digidestined. That's right! That's what Kazu and Kenta had been saying! So that accounted for two calls….but what about the other four?

"Rika, snap out of it!" Ryo whispered, shoving her. She glanced up, and noticed she had missed an entire conversation, and the police were now leaving. "They're going to get authorization to pursue this case. Kazu and Kenta are going with them to the station to tell them everything they know." He sighed. "Now we have to get to work."

Rika smirked and crossed her arms. "What, you think I'm dumb enough to miss all that?" she demanded.

"No, I just noticed you were too busy thinking to listen. You're not multitasking you know."

Ryo avoided getting his head punched off and hid behind Henry.

"Guys chill," Henry rolled his eyes. He sighed, and then winked at Rika. "Let's talk about the plan. Should we go look for their headquarters, whoever they are?"

"I don't think you'll need to look far."

The three Tamers turned to see who had spoken, and gasped. There, standing in the yard was Yamaki. They simply had nothing to say but, "Yamaki?"

He walked forward, and nodded his head with a bow. He always did have a strange habit of turning up where you didn't expect to find him. "I'm afraid there is something you need to know, if you want to stop the experiment from happening."

"Wait, what experiment?" Rika demanded.

"The one your friend is probably now subject to," Yamaki replied, not explaining himself. "I can't find the hideout for you, but I can tell you who is behind this."

"Then spill," Ryo said expectantly.

Yamaki did, without a second thought. "My twin brother, Yakihiro, is the one who kidnapped Takato, is capturing the digimon coming through the portal, and doing an experiment on them that will forever change digimon and our world, if he succeeds."

There was a pause of silence, and then Henry spoke up. "Okay so the only thing you haven't covered is where the portal came from. Did he open the portal too?"

"No," Yamaki said gravely. He shook his head and sighed. "But I will explain first what he was doing, and leave the mystery of the portal to you."

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_Fools. You think you can defeat me, or destroy me? Of course not. The reason I was locked in the core of the earth was because I cannot be defeated. You should have known that I would return, instead of completely forgetting about me. Because of that, your world is not prepared. You will be crushed because you do not have the strength to fight me. No one does. Not anymore._

_When you purified my data and scattered me so that I could never again take form, you were hasty in your victory. My consciousness still remained. And it my detached wandering through time and space, I discovered something. I discovered that your world has so many satellites that collect and transfer digital data, that it would be easy for me to send myself through them until I became whole again. And thus I have done, little by little, year by year. _

_And then I met her. She was scattered, destroyed, just as I was. She had been de-evolved completely until she was nothing, and then scattered throughout the universe as I was. She was full of anger, bitterness, and destruction. I gathered her consciousness, seething in her thirst for revenge, and nurtured her until she had evolved enough to understand me. I reprogrammed her, and made her my weapon, and promised her that she would have her revenge. _

_Together, we would destroy the humans, and destroy the digital worlds. Then we would create our own world, a place where we would rule, destroying anything and everything we wanted to. It couldn't have been easier to make her swear herself to me. And thus, I began my crusade._

_All I needed was one human to do my bidding. Just one human who had darkness in his soul, who could do the impossible and bridge the gap of the three worlds. But where could I find such a person? What person would be able to see things that are digital? What human could fall prey under my snare? Only one who had fallen before. _

_Kouichi Kimura. He never really recovered at all. His consciousness was scanned. I scanned it, because he sacrificed himself to save the others. He couldn't have known that in doing so, he was giving himself to me, and giving me the control. It was I who let him live at the hospital instead of die. I wanted him to live. I want to use him as a tool for revenge._

_In his heart, I think he always knew that he would never be free of me. His mind touched mine, and he saw many things about me. He saw that I can never be destroyed. He saw that I would use him in the end, and he has feared it all his life since. _

_But there was nothing he could do. I made him do it. He was perfect for the job, and no one else could have done better. Because of my bidding, Kouichi opened the portal. At first it was just a portal. But then my slave, the D-Reaper, whom I had reprogrammed to be my own, used the juggernaut vortex that had been used on her to suck both digital worlds into it so that they could de-evolve like she had done. _

_Digimon were helpless. If they stayed, they got destroyed forever. If they went through, they got changed. I took away half of their data, and sent them as alien creatures into the human world. They will never be able to change back. All digimon must go through to portal or die, because there is no other option. _

_So you see, I have eliminated my enemies. No powerful digimon remains who is strong enough to try to oppose me. And no human has the understanding of my plan but Kouichi._

_But what can he do?_

_Absolutely nothing. _

_I'll say it again. Fools. You all are fools. Go ahead and do what you like. Do your experiment so that you can control digimon and anything digital. It wont work against me. You can make an army of digimon, but it will never be strong enough. You can gather all the digidestined, but there is nothing they can do. It is hopeless for you._

_Before long, the digital worlds will be destroyed, and I will hold all the data. And then I will come for you. I will destroy you all, and make you watch as your lives come to chaos. I am the strongest! I am your doom! You will rue the day you ever crossed me! For no one can stand up to my power._

_No one._

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Yakihiro sighed, rubbing his forehead. The test results had just come back. This was the down side of working on his own. He didn't have his big laboratory, and the result was that everything went slower. "The danger is too high for these tests to go so slowly," he complained under his breath. But at least they were here. It didn't make up for the fact that they were not what he wanted.

"Sir," one of his recruited mercenaries exclaimed, rushing up. "Midias is gone, and he tried to kill the kid." There was a look of fury on his face. "He stole one of your digital shields."

Yakihiro stared back at the ninja blankly, and then gave another sigh. "Of course," he sighed. "He is more foolish than anyone then. At least he supplied me with enough digimon for the experiment before he left."

The ninja glared at him angrily, and walked up. "You know, you haven't told us what we're doing. First we're experimenting on creatures that come from nowhere. Next we kidnap a kid by accident, and he becomes vital to your plan. What are you doing anyway? If you don't tell me right now, I'll take the kid to the police and turn you in!"

Yakihio turned to stare blankly at the mercenary, and shook his head in disbelief. "You really don't get it do you?" he said condescendingly. "Do you even have any idea what is going on?" Without getting an answer, he dropped his test results on his table and rubbed his aching head. "To put it plainly, someone or some thing is trying to destroy our world, and the world where it's coming from—the world these creatures are coming from. I discovered this by accident, and only because I work with digital things like these all the time. I am doing the only thing any sane person would do. I am trying to find a way to fight back."

"Fight back?" the ninja insisted. "I don't get it. What are we fighting against?"

"One of these creatures, or something like it. These creatures have been changed from their original form, in order to make them weak so that they can't fight back." Yakihiro picked up his test results and glared at them. "My experiment is to see if I can restore them to their original form, and supply them with enough power to fight back. And from what I have got here, that is virtually impossible. However…" He stood up and walked into the warehouse, and hurried over to where Takato was placed. His only faithful ninja had discovered the problem, and had placed him on the table. From the looks of things, Midias had drugged him in an attempt to kill him.

The idiot. He had no idea he was destroying the only hope for Earth.

"However," he continued, checking Takato's pulse, "this boy is a Tamer. He has the ability to bio-merge with one of these creatures, in answer to your question."

The ninja shut his mouth and decided he would let the Boss keep talking. It was rare that anything was explained to him, and now everything was being explained. But he still had a million and one questions that wouldn't be answered, and it frustrated him.

"At first I had hoped to have him bio-merge with one of these in the cages, but that is impossible. He needs one that is completely digital, not changed like these. I was about to give up, when the new creature burst in." He walked to the large cage that held the creature known as Guilmon, and almost smiled. "It appears that the boy is his Tamer. They have already bio-merged together. All I have left to do is to provide them with enough power so that they can keep fighting without tiring."

"But this is insane," the ninja complained, eyeing Guilmon distastefully. He could still feel the scratches and burns on his back from trying to subdue the beast. "What do you mean by bio-merging, and how do you know they're going to agree to fight? You haven't exactly been very KIND to them."

"I haven't exactly been entirely 'kind' to you either, have I? But that doesn't mean I'm against you." Yakihiro stepped away from the cage to tend Takato. "My tests are complete. They will all know the full story as soon as possible. No more questions. I need you to run to the hospital for me. This looks serious. If we lose him, we are losing our only hope of survival."

The ninja sighed and walked out, muttering to himself. Yakihiro watched him go, and then turned to face the prowling cat in the cage across from him. "I know how long you have waited," he sneered, once he was alone. "I know that you are enraged with me and my experiment." He gave the cat a wry smile. "You think I don't know about and your sneaky ways? I'm onto you and your evil plot. And I'm not going to sit idly by and let my home get destroyed by some beast from your world." He stomped on the ground, angrily wishing he could throw something at the cage.

The black cat stopped pacing to glare and him, growling and hissing. "You think you know so much," it hissed. "But you are wrong. I understand what you are trying to do for us digimon, but it you can't do anything more with the rest of us. Let us go. Let me go. You don't understand what you are doing," it answered.

The Boss was not surprised that it could talk at all. They'd had their conversations before.

"I tried to tell you, but you just wouldn't listen," the cat insisted. "The enemy of both of us is able to see everything you do because I am here. He is the one benefiting from your experiment, not you, not me, not any of us. Let me go so I can run away. You don't want me around when he takes control."

Yakihiro glared at him. "You know, if I weren't the wiser, I would. But I know what that would do. I know that letting you out means giving you back control. I know your master is waiting for me to let you go so that you can attack and destroy everything I have done. Well it's not going to happen. I don't care if you can see what I'm doing."

"Then you have condemned yourself to death. When I become Velgemon, you will die. This cage will not hold me forever. I will rip you into pieces." The cat's voice deepened, and a change seemed to come over it like a cloud bringing shadow to an already cold day.

"Not before I am finished. You'll see. I will finish this experiment! I will stop him!" Yakihiro yelled.

The cat laughed a maniacal laugh, and a dark mist seemed to cloud around him. "You are so confident," it taunted. "But look at the facts. My master is in control. Your experiment is failing. I caused your telepathic ninja to try to kill the boy. I helped that worthless and despicable Takuya to escape so that he could get help. You look like a criminal to the rest of the world, and the rest of the world will tear you down and let me out. And then my master will utterly destroy your world." It cackled again. "Go ahead and try what you will. In the end, your world will fall. I will enjoy killing you for you attempt to stop it."

The Boss sneered at it, and turned away. It didn't matter, even if it sounded true. It would work. Takato would find the strength. Yamaki had always spoken the most highly about him. He'd find the strength. For the digimon… For the Digital world… "For our world."

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Shorter than other chapters, but I wanted to cover all the questions people may be having about the story, and give a tiny bit of answer. I wanted to let you know there is a bigger picture going on here. What do you think? ...(coughcoughREVIEWcough)

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**Evide **says:

"Toni is the greatest and this chapter is the best!" 

haha. So maybe now you'll think better of me. Haha! Just kidding. Okay so maybe she only pretended to say it, and didn't really mean it, but she did write it to me sarcastically!

OH!

Evide is writing a short one-shot story about Kouichi that is SOOOOO good. You all should read it. It coincides with this story, and is like a picture of what Kouichi thinks about everything. You can see his side of the story. But it is better than anything I can write. I recommend reading it when it gets posted. I don't know if she's done yet. It is called "Devastation" if she doesn't change the name before posting it. Keep a look out for it! I'll be adding it to favorites. What about you? At least read it. Thanks! You're awesome. That's right, I'm talking to YOU, reader!

So until next time, I'll let you dwell on the mysteries, and wonder... What is really going on? I'll leave the questions to you. And I'll keep going when I have more time. So until then…

God bless you, and I'll see you next time.

Rika195


	9. Author's Note

Just so you know people, The part where Lucemon is talking is the part where it is all in Italics. The first word he says is "Fools."

Now I want you to know, he is talking is FIRST PERSON, and when HE says "she," he is NOT talking about himself! He is referring to something or someone else, that he found and bound as a slave to himself. You will see who it is in the next chapter. And actually, if you read closely, you will see who he is talking about. There is only one "she" who matches all his descriptions. And this "she" is from Digimon. It is not a made up character. If I referred to Lucemon as a "she" at any part of this, it was merely a typo. But considering how much he looks and sounds like a girl sometimes, I simply laugh at the typo and relish it as an insult.

Okay enough said. Just wanted to get that out. And I will now give you a preview for the next chapter. A very SHORT preview. If you are reading this and HAVEN'T read the last chapter, please do so, because this preview will make more sense.

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Lucemon laughed menacingly, glaring down at the figure standing below him. "You think that just because you came all the way up here that you'll find a way to stop me?" he taunted. He leaned down, getting his face level with the trembling young man. "You're wrong," he hissed. "In fact, you've done just the opposite. I've been waiting for you my little puppet." He punched the young man as hard as he could, knocking him to the ground. "And it's time for me to play again."

There was an angry look of hopelessness in the human's eyes, and he looked frantically about him for something--anything--that would help him stop Lucemon. There was absolutely nothing, and it didn't take long for him to find that out. Lucemon laughed when reality hit him. There was nothing he could do. He'd already played himself into the trap. "You beast!" the human yelled, choking back tears.

"Oh I'm not the one people will be calling beast, filthy little human," Lucemon chuckled evilly. He pointed a finger at his captive with a smirk. "After the things you are going to do, the only beast is going to be you."

Lucemon laughed loudly and triumphantly. How he loved to make his victims despair. This was going better than he had planned in the beginning. Without looking behind him, he snapped his fingers. A Lady digimon stepped forward, a look of bloodlust in her strangely angeled eyes. Her clothing was red, and her mouth was parted slightly to show jagged, bloody teeth. Stringy purple hair hung from her head, and her torn and bloody clothing swirled about her as she walked. She walked up next to Lucemon, and bowed herself to the floor.

"I am here, my Lord," she said in a sickening voice, drenched with a hunger for death and destruction.

"And I am ready for you, my Lady," Lucemon asnwered, still looking at the human on the ground before him. "Take him and use him, like you used the girl before you were destroyed."

"It will be my pleasure!" she grinned, turning her blood-shot eyes onto the human before her. His eyes widened, and he tried to hurry away, but she was too quick for him. She grabbed him, a desire to rip him to shreds obvious in her eyes. But she restrained. Her Master had given her an order. "You humans will all die," she whsipered to the black-haired young human. "And I shall have my sweet, sweet revenge."

Lucemon ignored the human's screams of anger and anguish, and went back to his plan. He had to do something about this Yakihiro person. He was the only one who could reverse the effects of the portal, and so far he hadn't found it yet. He had to destroy him as quickly as possible. But who to use...ah. Of course. He smirked to himself and cackled. The perfect person was right before him.

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There's the preview. You can all get mad at me now for making it so...awful. But maybe it'll get you interested in reading what's coming next. I am glad you all are still interested. It is going to get much more complicated, and that part is simply a preview of what's coming next. And just so you know, that girl is who Lucemon was referring to. Okay I'me done. Hope to see your reviews soon!

Rika195


	10. Chaos Is Inevitable

Finally……After a Preview like Chapter Nine…

Kidnapped, Chapter Ten

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Review replies:

**Takuya**: I am glad you think it is a good preview. I hope you like the chapter even better, once you know how it all fits together.

**Black Peeches**: I am so excited, I can't wait! How's college going? Hope you like this complicated chapter and all.

**Evide**: Evide is awesome. Yay! I'm not being sarcastic either. (aw, you're so nice!) …..eh heh……yeah. I knew I was torturing you. Okay so yeah, it was fun for me. I knew you'd like that. You rock. By the way, THANKS for the great help on chapter eight! And as for this chapter, I am cackling, just KNOWING it's going to rip you to shreds. Er….that sounded odd. Maybe I should rephrase that. This chapter will kill you. Or wait….still sounds too…..deadly? Um…. This chapter will drive you crazy. There. That's better……

**Kimiko kinomoto**: I AM? REALLY? YOU ARE SO NICE! Um… Good guess….but….NO. She is not nearly as powerful as this particular person…er….thing. This, my friend, is not Arukenimon, but someone much, much worse. But I'll give you a hint. This is a Frontier/Tamers crossover, so there will be no Adventure/Zero Two here. Yep. So enjoy!

**Draongider04 or Mega-Soul.exe**: Which one do you prefer to be called? Whatever. Have fun. Um, I knew that, I just had fun saying that, lol. You rock. Just thought I'd let you know. Been waiting? Well, here it is! Oh, btw, read chapter nine. It clarifies that Lucemon is NOT a "she," but that HE is referring TO a she.

**Whatisee**: Why thank you! Nice to see you've come out of the shadows to review! I would appreciate more of that, hehe. Hope you like this chapter too.

Thanks to everyone else who read this! REVIEWS ARE WELCOME! Meaning, don't sit back and say nothing. Follow "Whatisee's" example! Even writing the word "nice" Like he/she did is great!

Okay so onto the good stuff.

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**Disclaimer**: Digimon does NOT belong to me. But you guys already knew that.

**Claimer**: Um….Midias is MINE. So is Yakihiro. Um….other stuff.

Onto the story now.

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Midias stared at Kouichi…shaking. All his life, he'd been able to read minds. When he was young, it scared him. When he got a little bit older, he used it to his advantage. But no one had ever accepted him. He was hated and shunned. And so he hated everyone else. That was why he had trained all his life to be a ninja. Because he didn't have to have anyone's love. It was simply all about himself. And he liked that. But ever since Yakihiro had hired him, he was beginning to fear that nothing would ever work out in the end for anyone, least of all himself.

Capturing the creatures that came out of the portal was easy enough. It was like they were drugged. They couldn't respond. The only one who had caused him the most pain was the giant black cat. It had nearly killed him. He had to use his most powerful telepathic power to stun it and get it to the warehouse. But that was a mistake. The cat knew that he could read minds. And day and night it constantly called out to him, taunting him, speaking to him, and whispering things to him at night.

Midias was a grown man. Something like shouldn't bother him. But still…some of the dark and creepy things the cat said and thought when it didn't know Midias was near terrified him. Because he knew, he could see…that destruction and chaos was coming…and he would not survive.

No sooner had he learned this, that the boy Takato came into the picture. Midias had never met anyone like Takato before. He was so…strong…calming….innocent. It was like the greatest strengths a man could have were the fibers of his being. And it scared Midias. The other thing about the youth was that he thought so _clearly. _It was strange. A person usually has a million things running through their mind at all times. But not Takato. He had millions of thoughts, but they were clear and defined, and if they weren't, they rested at the back of his mind until he could think them through. It was a relief on Midias' mind. At times he would simply shut everything else out, and listen to what the young man was thinking.

It never crossed his mind anymore that he shouldn't do it, because he simply didn't care anymore. He had the power and he used it when he wanted to. But listening to Takato's thoughts and dreams also disturbed him. Because Takato had no idea what was happening.

The cat would speak to him, telling him how Yakihiro was evil, and was doing an experiment for money, and how he had opened a portal that was destroying three worlds in one blow. And Takato was troubled. He knew Yakihiro was Yamaki's twin, and he was both angry with him and frustrated because he wanted to tell him that what he was doing was wrong. But he had no idea that it was all lies. No one did. Time and time again, Midias saw the cat using lies to deceive everyone. Takuya had easily been deceived. But how he escaped, Midias still didn't know. And that was frustrating.

Unlike Takato, Takuya's head was always full of songs, thoughts, arguments with his brother, and many more random things. Sometimes it was such a pain to be around him that Midias just wanted to kill him and get him out of his head. But Takuya had the same things that Takato had. Courage….justice….innocence….

Then he had escaped. And suddenly, things began to become clear to Midias. Yakihiro wanted to use Takato to fight against the portal, and yet the experiment had failed. It was then that the words the cat had spoken to him for so many days became clear. Someone was coming…coming to invoke chaos and destruction. And there was no way anyone could stop him. _You will be spared, _the cat's had said into his mind, staring at him with sharp yellow eyes, _If you stop Yakihiro. If you kill Takato. But if you do not, you will die a worse death because you know what's going to happen. _

A worse death because he knew. No, he was not going to let that happen. That was why he had injected Takato with the drug. That was why he left. Because he wanted to be spared.

But just as things were beginning to seem alright for him, he had come upon Takuya and some of his friends. And some more of those digimon. He would have killed Takuya just because, but he couldn't. Something stopped him, as if he knew that by killing Takuya, he'd be killing another chance to save himself. And so he had simply walked away. That is…until Kouichi began to speak.

Kouichi. The dark-haired youth stood before him, his head hanging so that his hair covered his eyes. His thoughts were dark….his visions bleak….and his posture spoke death. He was suffering, dying even as he lived. And now Midias knew why. Kouichi was the one who opened the portal. He was the one who started everything….everything that put Midias in danger….that put everything in danger.

Midias could see in Kouichi's mind, the sharp and painful memory of what had happened. And it was almost too much to bear. He closed his eyes, trembling, trying to close his mind off. But he could not.

"YOU did it?" Takuya blurted, snapping Midias out of his thoughts. "WHY?"

Midias didn't give him a chance to answer. "You have destroyed everything!" Midias hissed, walking forward. Kouichi lifted his head, staring with his empty eyes into Midias' as if he could see right through him. "You are the cause for everything that's happening! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to kill Takato! I wouldn't have had to ruin the experiment! The destruction of everything wouldn't have happened! It is all your fault!" He pulled a knife out from hidden in his clothes and pressed it up against Kouichi's neck. The youth didn't make a sound. Trembling, Midias tried to make himself kill him. But he couldn't. No matter how many people he had killed, and how many things that had been harder than this, he still could not do it. He had no idea why.

"Get away from him." Someone growled out this order so darkly, that Midias was startled. He turned to see a duplicate of Kouichi. Only this youth did not look so despairing. His hair was long, tied behind his head, and his sharp blue eyes were like swords stabbing into Midias' heart. He stepped forward, unafraid of the man before him. And it seemed to Midias that he was glowing. He stopped, inches from Midias' face, and took hold of the knife. "I said…get away from him."

Midias backed up, letting the youth take the knife from him. He turned to look at Takuya, and his eyes widened. It was like they had changed. They weren't just annoying kids. They were dangerous. And they were warriors who weren't afraid of Midias, as they had been only moments before. It was then that Midias could see…instead of becoming despairing like he had in the realization of the dark truth, they had become more determined. And it was like they were glowing.

"You should not have killed him," Takuya said gravely. His eyes narrowed. "And you should explain what you meant about ruining the experiment." His mind was whirling with questions and thoughts, and it seemed things were beginning to become clear to him….that things weren't as he had thought of them before.

Midias glanced back and forth between the three of them. Suddenly he was afraid. "Who are you people?" he hissed.

The long-haired youth stepped forward again, his eyes dark with a serious expression. "I am Kouji Minamoto, protector of the Digital Worlds and of this world. And I see you as a threat." Something began to glow in his pocket, and he pulled out a device that was glowing like white fire. "And I see you as a threat to my brother."

"And I am Takuya Kanbara, warrior of fire and protector of these same worlds." Something in Kouji's other pocket began to glow, and Kouji took it out and handed it to Takuya. Takuya took it and held it up. It was like fire to Midias' eyes. "And I demand that you tell us everything."

Finally, Kouichi spoke. "I am Kouichi Kimura." He looked down, looking heart-sick. "And though there was nothing I could do to stop myself from opening the portal, I might be the only one who can stop the one who made me do it." He pulled something out of his pocket, a device like the other two. Only it was not glowing brightly. It looked dead. Kouichi began to walk past them all, heading for the portal. His eyes were glazed, and still empty. "The darkness is corrupted, and the light dims from the world. There is no hope while I walk here," he spoke like he didn't quite know what he was saying. Then he turned back to stare at everyone. "I am going to stall him." A half smile tried to reach his face, and barely made it. "Do not try to stop me Kouji. I must do this. I can't do anything else. You have to get ready. You have to fight him when he comes out."

"When who comes out?" Takuya pleaded. Although he still looked menacing, he was still lost.

Kouichi cringed. "Lucemon," he said gravely. Then he turned to Midias. "He has used you like he has used me. Your ability to read minds is his door to this world, like my connection to the darkness. But there is good news for you yet. Takato is not dead."

Then he ran away. No one stopped him. The weight of the situation was too great, and no one could do anything at all. Then Kouji turned to Midias, pointing the knife he had taken at Midias' face. "Take us to your hideout," Kouji hissed.

Midias stared at them, feeling so dark, so scared, and so helpless to do anything. But in Kouji's mind was a light so bright, it washed away the dark things the cat had spoken to him day and night. It was like he could finally see what he couldn't before. Yakihiro was not his enemy. The digimon were not his enemy. Takuya, Takato, Kouji….none of them were his enemy. They were his tickets to life. He slowly nodded, and then began to run. The urgency of time was pressing on his mind. He had been doing the wrong thing all this time, only caring about himself. And now it might be too late.

Kouji, Takuya, and the digimon with them were only one pace behind him.

(------)

_Pain engulfed Takato's body, but he struggled to ignore it. He was losing feeling in all of his limbs, starting from his fingers and toes, and spreading into the rest of his body. It was hindering his ability to do anything. He forced his eyes to open, and found himself in a swirling pit of black. He was clinging to a rope. It was frayed and worn, and so weak that he feared it would not hold his weight. He was hanging by it, as if to let go and fall into the blackness would be his death. But he was losing strength fast._

"_Don't let go Takato," someone said. He looked around. It sounded like Jeri, but he wasn't sure. He tried to call out, but his mouth would not open._

_His left hand went dead. His fingers loosed their hold, and he couldn't stop them. As if in slow motion, he began to fall, barely hanging on with his right hand. And he was losing his grip with that hand too. _

No…_his mind screamed, unable to make sound. _I can't let go. I can't. I wont._ He gripped harder, looking upward. There was nothing but blackness, obscuring his vision. He could not see where the rope led, but he knew he had to climb it. Or he would die._

"_Takato…"_

_Takato looked around. He couldn't see anyone, but he recognized the voice. It was dear to him, but he couldn't place it. _

"_Takato should not worry…."_

_Takato reached his left arm upward, trying hard to grip the rope. His fingers refused to work. _I can't…hold on… _he thought. _Why shouldn't I worry? What happens if I fall? Of course I'm worrying!

"_Takato-mon, you should not worry because you are not alone."_

_Takato's head shot up_. Guilmon! _His mind screamed out his partner's name as if he'd never say it again. Guilmon _where are you! I can't see you!

_Slowly, the dark mists began to clear away. Up above him, Guilmon was holding onto the other end of the rope. His lopsided-toothy grin was shining down at his friend. "See? I am right here! Don't worry about climbing up. I'll pull you up."_

_Takato grinned, and felt some of his fear subside. But he was still weak. _Hurry_, he thought, his grip loosening. He couldn't hold on much longer. Slowly, he felt himself being pulled up. Guilmon showed no signs of weariness. Pull after pull brought him closer to his partner, and out of the pit. And just as his strength failed, he was collapsing on top of Guilmon._

"_See?" Guilmon said again. He chuckled. "I am always here for you."_

_Takato smiled at him thankfully, and then his strength failed. His eyes closed, but he knew his was safe. And he fell into blackness…._

(------)

Yakihiro stopped pacing. He was still sweating, but a change had come over Takato. He was longer at death's door. Yakihiro seated himself in a chair, and tried to regain his normally calm behavior. He turned to the one ninja who had not abandoned him. Everyone else had left. He tried to smile. "Because of you, we might survive," he said quietly.

The ninja looked surprised, and then huffed. "Whatever," he growled. "I'm a ninja. I kill for money. I don't normally do this kind of 'saving the world' work. It makes me feel like I've gone soft."

Yakihiro cracked a small smile. "Well, it looks like he may survive." He glanced at Guilmon, the partner of Takato. "And now I turn to you for help. I hope that I can explain to you my situation. I know that it looks to you like I am evil."

Guilmon stared at him with huge innocent eyes, and then smiled. "I could smell that you weren't evil," Guilmon said, almost laughing. "But these other digimon can't. Half of their senses have been taken from them. They can't smell danger like I can. They can't tell the difference between friend and foe." He turned and stared at Takato longingly. "But I do wish you'd let me out of the cage."

Yakihiro sighed. "I don't know if that is safe."

"You don't have to worry, I was here before the portal opened. I am not under anyone's control." Guilmon yawned and rubbed his stomach. "But I am hungry…."

Takato stirred, grabbing everyone's attention. Yakihiro rushed to his side, frowning. When Takato's eyes opened, he looked up dizzily. The first thing he saw was Yakihiro's frowned. And then he sighed. "Oh," he said weakly. He didn't have anything else to say.

"Takato-mon, you made it!" Guilmon called. Takato's eyes opened wide, and he turned to see Guilmon in a cage. A look of pain crossed his face.

"Guilmon…" he called. He turned and frowned at Yakihiro. "Let him go!" he demanded. "I wont let you hurt him!"

Yakihiro sighed. He could see where this was going. He turned to the cage that held Takato's partner, and pulled out his set of keys. Then he opened to cage and held the door open for Guilmon to come out.

Takato stared at him, frowning, and looked completely lost. Guilmon ran over to him, nuzzling him with his giant snout, and then laughed. "Takato should not be angry. He is not a bad person. He is trying to help!"

"HELP?" Takato exclaimed. He stared at Yakihiro. His face showed that a million emotions and thoughts were arguing against each other in his mind. He looked so lost. "What…" he sighed and laid his head back down, looking so dizzy he felt like throwing up. "What exactly is going on here?"

Before anyone could answer, the door to the warehouse opened. And Midias stepped in, followed by two other youths and two other digimon.

For a long moment, Yakihiro and Midias glared at each other. And then one of the boys ran to the cage with the fox digimon. "Hey Agunimon," the youth chuckled, winking. "You like your cage?"

The other boy walked in and looked around. His eyes settled on the dark cat in the corner, and his eyes narrowed. He walked forward to the cage. "I know you," he whispered. "And you are not JagerLowemon."

The whole room seemed suddenly filled with tension, as every single digimon, captured or not, turned to watch everything going on. A sense of fear filled the room.

The black-haired youth turned to Takato, and then to Yakihiro. Then he bowed. "We are here to stop Lucemon," he said gravely. And he looked around. "And I see that you are doing the same, even if your methods are different from mine."

Yakihiro blinked, and then glanced at Midias. He looked afraid. It explained everything. "So you've finally seen the truth," he said condescendingly. "But you almost killed the only one who can save us. Because of that, Takato may never have the strength to fight, and now he may never want to."

Takato sat up, Guilmon supporting him. "Alright listen," Takato said weakly. "I want to know exactly what's going on. What was your experiment? And why do you need me? And why do you want me to fight? Someone please tell me everything!"

Everyone turned to him, each with a different expression. The youth who had spoken to Agunimon came forward, giving Takato a pat on the back. "It's hard to explain," he said, "And I don't even know everything myself but…I guess what it comes down to is this…"

The black-haired youth interrupted him. "Something's not right," he whispered. He sank to the floor, gripping his chest. "We're too late."

At that moment, the portal in the sky rippled, and the sky turned dark. And everyone could see it, digital ability or not. The world was coming to chaos.

(------)

The portal flashed, sucking up a young human into Lucemon's presence. How this human had managed to come to his hideout, Lucemon didn't know. But here he was. Then he saw who it was, and he was thrilled.

Lucemon laughed menacingly, glaring down at the figure standing below him. "You think that just because you came all the way up here that you'll find a way to stop me?" he taunted. He leaned down, getting his face level with the trembling young man. "You're wrong," he hissed. "In fact, you've done just the opposite. I've been waiting for you my little puppet." He punched the youth as hard as he could, knocking him to the ground. "And it's time for me to play again."

There was an angry look of hopelessness in the human's eyes, and he looked frantically about him for something--anything--that would help him stop Lucemon. There was absolutely nothing, and it didn't take long for him to find that out. Lucemon laughed when reality hit him. There was nothing he could do. He'd already played himself into the trap. "You beast!" the human yelled, "You tricked me into thinking that by coming up here, I would find a way to stop you!" He was choking back tears. He stared up at Lucemon hatefully, and Lucemon knew without asking that Kouichi was simply trying to stall him from attacking the world. But it was too late.

"Oh I'm not the one people will be calling beast, filthy little human," Lucemon chuckled evilly. He pointed a finger at his captive with a smirk. "After the things you are going to do, the only beast is going to be you."

Lucemon laughed loudly and triumphantly. How he loved to make his victims despair. This was going better than he had planned in the beginning. Without looking behind him, he snapped his fingers. A Lady digimon stepped forward, a look of bloodlust in her strangely angled eyes. Her clothing was red, and her mouth was parted slightly to show jagged, bloody teeth. Stringy purple hair hung from her head, and her torn and bloody clothing swirled about her as she walked. She walked up next to Lucemon, and bowed herself to the floor.

"I am here, my Lord," she said in a sickening voice, drenched with a hunger for death and destruction.

"And I am ready for you, my Lady," Lucemon answered, still looking at the human on the ground before him. "Take him and use him, like you used the girl before you were destroyed."

"It will be my pleasure!" she grinned, turning her blood-shot eyes onto the human before her. His eyes widened, and he tried to hurry away, but she was too quick for him. She grabbed him, a desire to rip him to shreds obvious in her eyes. But she restrained. Her Master had given her an order. "You humans will all die," she whispered to the black-haired young human. "And I shall have my sweet, sweet revenge."

Lucemon ignored the human's screams of anger and anguish, and went back to his plan. He had to do something about this Yakihiro person. He was the only one who could reverse the effects of the portal, and so far he hadn't found it yet. He had to destroy him as quickly as possible. But who to use...ah. Of course. He smirked to himself and cackled. The perfect person was right before him.

(------)

Rika stopped running. The sky seemed to rumble and shatter, and the portal stretched across the entire horizon. She was frozen, rooted in spot as the darkness of the sky slowly turned to the sickening color of blood. It pulsated, like a heartbeat, and something about it made her hair stand up on end. It made her sick. And yet….if felt like déjà vu.

Ryo stopped beside her, and so did Henry. They stood on either side of her, as if trying to be protective. And for once, she was grateful. She felt like she had no control. "It looks like…" Henry shuddered, and Rika could see him visibly growing smaller, as if shrinking in fear. "…Like the D-Reaper."

Rika and Ryo said nothing. Both of them were thinking the same thing. And neither of them wanted it to be true. The sky pulsated right above them, and a shaft of blood-red light surrounded them. They couldn't see anything but the red, and they knew with sinking hearts that the D-Reaper knew exactly where they were. Then the light faded. Someone stood before them.

He was a young man the same age that they were. He had hair as black as the emptiness of death, and his eyes were just as empty. And they were red. A twisted smile played across his face, and as he stood before them, it looked as if he were dead, and yet still walking. They knew without guessing that this was the D-Reaper. She had found another victim to use.

"I have been waiting for so long," the youth said, his voice sounding thick with death and despair. It hurt Rika's heart just to hear it. This boy, this man that the D-Reaper was using…he must have suffered much despair for his voice to sound so painful. She wondered who he was, and if he was still alive.

"We will destroy you," Henry hissed. He was shaking with rage like he never had before. The painful memories of last time were still fresh in his mind. And Terriermon was not here. All thanks to her…and to his Dad.

"I think not." The D-Reaper laughed evilly. He…..or rather…it was a she…just in a he….smirked and stepped forward. "Because you Tamers are the only one who knows that it is me and not Kouichi who will cause the destruction of the earth, I have to kill you. Unless…." The black-haired boy glanced up into the sky. Then he looked back at them, grinning so evilly it scared them to death. "I think instead I will use you too. No one will stop me and my master from destroying you all!"

Rika frowned. "Your master?" she asked. She didn't get to say anything else. The D-Reaper stretched out his hand, and they were enveloped in the red, blubbery substance they remembered. And it hurt. Rika cringed, and found herself falling away from the earth, into the sky. She screamed, trying to escape, but she couldn't move. Henry and Ryo were in the same bubble, and yet they couldn't move either. They could only watch as the D-Reaper laughed at them from bellow. And then…

And then a flash of yellow streaked across the ground, leaping into the air. Then it was gone. And before anyone had a chance to wonder what it was, the bubble popped. And the three Tamers fell to the earth…..screaming. They never hit the ground. Something rammed into them, catching them all together and carrying them quickly to the top of the building. And then dumped them.

Rika pushed Ryo off of her, annoyed that she had been crushed by two boys, and looked up. A dark silhouette stood before them. "You're much heavier than you used to be," the silhouette said. And Rika burst into tears. The figure stepped forward, smiling down at the girl gently. "I missed you too," she said. She was enveloped in a bear hug.

"Renamon…." Rika sobbed. Then she pulled away and wiped her tears away as fast as she could. "I don't understand!" she said. "What's happening? How come you are here? Where did you come from?"

Behind her, she felt tension, and slowly, she glanced back. Ryo and Henry were both standing there, silent. Ryo's face was grave, and in his eyes was a look of sharp pain. Silent tears streamed down Henry's blank face. And suddenly she realized. Terriermon and Cyberdramon….

"There is much to explain that you do not know," Renamon said gravely. "But we can't speak here. It is too dangerous. The D-Reaper is coming." She urged them to follow her, and slowly, all three of them did. And yet Rika could feel the pain of the two boys beside her, but she had no comfort to give them.

As they escaped to the inside of a deserted building, she did something she never thought she would. Rika reached out and placed a gentle hand on each of their shoulders, giving them a look that meant she was sorry. Then she hugged them. It was quick, and she felt stupid doing it. But for what it was worth, she wanted them not to hurt so much. But she had nothing else to give.

As they made their way to the building, Rika would never know what a simple hug from Rika could do for the two boys who liked her as more than just a friend.

(------)

Well, I am going to have to end it here. I am sorry. Everything is a mess. But next chapter, everyone will finally find out the truth. If you already know, you'll get annoyed. But it will be summarized because I get tired of saying things. But man….it's going to get a whole ton worse. Just don't kill me, okay? Hehe. Thanks.

Well, God bless you all, and I will update soon! I have to follow a system. I update my stories one at a time, and I have a method. But I am so excited for next chapter that I think I'll get a head-start on writing it cause it is so complicated, so scary, and so cute and depressing all at the same time that it DRIVES ME CRAZY that I have to wait until I update my other stories to update this one.

----------(sigh)-----------------

But that's okay. You and I will both…er….all survive. Yeah.

Review?

--------------------------------------------------------rika195

(Rika is SO my favorite girl in all of Digimon. Sorry, I just had to say that. Hehehe)


	11. DReaper Destruction

**Kidnapped-------Chapter 11**

**Thank you reviewers** for your awesome reviews, and your excitement about this story! I am so thrilled that you continue to read it. Glancing back, I notice that this story started out with less than four reviewers per chapter, and now I have twice that many people who want me to keep writing! It is so very exciting! So thanks goes to you special people out there who are supporting me and who love my story enough to give me a review! Thank you **Kimiko Kinomoto**, **black peeches**, **Evide,** and everyone else who loves this story but forgot to review. You guys rock!

God bless you all, and please enjoy this story, however crazy, ridiculous, unbelievable, scary, and tense it might be. I hope you survive this chapter. Er….you especially, Evide. This one might be hard for you. Lol.

An so without further ado…..

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything related to Digimon. But sure as heck I love it to death.

**Note**: Finals are stupid. I hate finals. So please bear with me if this chapter is a little…..harsh. Or something.

Dozou!

* * *

Takato stared at the deep red that filled the sky, and the twisting black wisps that seeped from the portal toward the ground. He heard sirens, and people screaming…but he could not hear a dog bark or a bird chirp anywhere. The animals had vanished. Belatedly, he realized that that was never a good sign. Never. Was the world coming to an end so quickly? Shivering, and still feeling like he had just escaped death, he looked weakly up at the concern on Yakihiro's face. "Please," he said urgently. "I need to know everything. We all do." 

Yakihiro nodded slowly, and a shiver went through him. "It's very simple," he said blandly, "and yet it is anything but. The world is coming to and end, and I am doing everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen. Everyone is against me, even my own brother, but it doesn't matter. I could not explain myself, because I faced the danger that the enemy would find a way to stop me." He sighed and turned to Midias, a condescending look in his eyes. "You were more foolish than I would have thought possible, especially for someone who has the ability to read minds. You may have destroyed our chance of survival."

Midias simply glared at him, then looked toward the black-haired youth that still sat crouched on the ground, gripping his stomach. He didn't say anything, and he refused to look in Takato's direction.

Slowly, Takato pulled himself off the table onto his feet, aware of Guilmon supporting him. He looked around at everyone. "Who are you, and what's going on, exactly?" he asked. Although he was annoyed, he did not sound harsh. He simply asked. He didn't have the energy to put an edge to his voice, no matter how he felt.

"I'm Takuya," the brown-haired one said, attempting a grin. But his face slipped back into a serious expression. "These are my partners, Burning Greymon," he pointed to the fox-like digimon with wings next to him, "and Agunimon," he pointed to the one in the cage. "That over there is Kouji, my friend, and his partner Lobomon." Takuya pointed to the wolf-like digimon that stood protectively next to Kouji, who still sat on the ground, his face hidden from view.

"And what about the experiment? The portal? Everything?" Takto placed a hand on his head. He was sweating, and he felt like invisible needles were repeatedly stabbing into his brain over and over.

"The portal was opened by…" Kouji stood up suddenly, clenching his teeth. There was a dangerously scary expression in his eyes. "…by Lucemon, through my brother. Lucemon will destroy the whole world. He's destroyed both digital worlds in creating the portal, and sent digimon through it to weaken them. All digimon who went through the portal will never be as strong as they once were. Never. And they will never be a threat to him again." He clenched his hands into fists, glaring at the air. "And now he's using my brother again. I can feel it." He lapsed into angry silence, fearing to say anything else lest it be riddled with unpleasantly flavored words not meant for children's ears.

"The experiment was my idea," Yakihiro said finally. "I employed the help of poachers and ninjas to help me capture the stranded and changed digimon, and created a collar that would tap into what digital energy they had left. Using a formula that required exactly the right amount of digimon and the right amount of electrical power, I tried to restore the digimon to what they were." He glanced at Midias momentarily. "But I failed. Someone made sure of that."

Midias winced, but said nothing. He was glaring at the floor, sweating as much as Takato was, and looked even more agitated than Kouji did.

"But when you got kidnapped as well," Yakihiro sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I didn't know what to do with you. I didn't want to hurt you, and I didn't want to let you go because you would tell the police that I was dealing with poachers or something. So I had to keep you. Then I discovered that you were a Tamer, and…" he paused. "…I began to hope. If I could use your power as a Tamer to strengthen these other digimon, I might be successful at another attempt at the experiment. But that never happened. I would have despaired if your friend Guilmon hadn't come along when you called him. But since he is here, and he is not been through the portal…I think that there might be hope after all."

Takato blinked, letting everything sink in. It was…odd, to say the least. He knew everyone was telling the truth, and he could understand everyone's point of view…but…he was still angry. He didn't like to be used, and almost killed, for something he didn't understand. It would have been better if he had known ahead of time! Frowning, he sighed and absently patted Guilmon's head. "So what is it you expect or hope for me to do?" he asked slowly, fearing he already knew the answer.

"I hope…" Yakihiro replied just as slowly, "that you can fight Lucemon, you and your partner. Because you are the only one with the strength to even think about trying."

Takato gulped, glancing around the room at the caged Digimon. "And them? Why do you keep them caged up? They know the truth now, and they agree with you, I'm sure. They like this situation even less than we do! Their home was destroyed! And you can't expect them to sit back and let me try alone! They're digimon! They were born to fight!" Takato frowned. "You owe it to them to let them go!"

At this, a pained expression came over Yakihiro's face, and for the first time, Takato saw that the man was afraid. "I can't," he whispered. "They are all influenced by the portal, and they are under Lucemon's control, whether they know it or not. I know this for a fact, and not just a guess. I had many conversations with them before you came, and though sometimes I could not understand them, they all said the same thing. That I would be destroyed when their Master Lucemon comes." He shuddered and glared at the caged animals, JagerLowemon in particular. "But that didn't stop me. It never will. I'm not going to give up in saving my world because I'm afraid!"

There was a long silence, finally broken by a cough from Takuya. Everyone looked over at him. "Um, guys?" he said, trembling slightly. "I think now is a time to be worried."

Kouji turned his killer glare upon his friend. "Why?" he demanded.

Takuya pointed. Everyone looked.

Midias was engulfed in a blood-red light coming from the portal, and a twisted laugh filled the room. The laugh was coming from JagerLowemon's cage. "Fools!" the cat hissed. "All of you, fools! Do you think you can stop my Master? You will all become his pawns…or you will die!"

The light vanished, and Midias smirked faintly. His eyes had gone bright red, and his face pale. "Yes, Master," he whispered faintly. "I will kill them all." He whipped out hidden throwing knives to throw at his unsuspecting victims.

* * *

"So you're saying…that Yamaki was wrong?" Rika frowned, shivering at the red sky above her. She continued to walk beside Renamon, the two boys following behind her. Renamon had just gotten done explaining everything to them…the portal, Yamaki's twin's plan, Lucemon, and the mutated digimon. The whole thing was larger and scarier than she had thought possible, and she did not like that the two biggest villains from both digital worlds had joined forces to destroy her world. She shivered again, hoping that the D-Reaper would not find them before they got to…she frowned. "Where are we going?" she asked Renamon. 

"To our hideout," Renamon whispered. After a pause, she added, "yes, Yamaki is wrong about his brother. But he will soon learn what is happening. Too late, but he will learn. Even Yamaki's brother cannot do anything. We alone can fight this evil." She led them to the hidden shrine where Takato used to hide Guilmon, and led them to the back of the building. She opened a secret door and pulled the three humans in after her.

"Kazu and Kenta," Henry said quickly, startled at the darkness. "And Jeri! What about them? And my sister! They aren't safe!"

Renamon said nothing, but kept walking in the darkness. The others were forced to follow her. Finally, she stopped, and they all ran into her. "Here," she said, opening another hidden door. She shoved the Tamers in, and closed the door after her.

Rika blinked in the light for a moment, and then looked around, startled. They were not alone.

There were dozens of digimon, all talking to each other in hushed voices, scattered throughout a secret underground lair. She looked up, and yet all she could discover was that is was built of concrete, had air and lighting, and was a safe zone for stranded digimon…digimon who had NOT gone through the portal. "How did…" her mouth gaped open as she turned to her partner. "How did you all get here?" she asked.

Renemon smiled faintly. "Guilmon," she said. A look from Rika asked her to explain. "Guilmon had been visiting your world several times to visit Takato, but had never told any of us about it. One day, things started to seem strange around the digital world, but we just dismissed it. That was when Guilmon started predicting the end of the world. Of course, not many believed him. These are the only digimon who did believe him. He led us through his secret gate to your world, to this hideout. And then he told us to lay low until we were called." She paused. "He was the first and only one to get called. And he has not come back. He did tell us, before he left, that you were in danger and that we needed to find you. And so, a few of us went out to do just that." She laughed faintly and sighed.

"Guilmon's turned out to be quite a leader," Rika observed. "You obviously trusted him."

"He's different than other digimon," Renamon reminded her partner. "He is the only Guilmon. The only one. And he has different abilities than other digimon do. I believe he can see some things before they happen, and we all believed that he would be able to get us to safety. He is still so innocent about most things, like a child, that he is not held by the laws of what we can or cannot do. He simply knew that we needed to come here, and someone a way was made for him. No one else can do that." She shook her head. "No one."

"That seems odd."

"It is…but Guilmon is still a child. A terribly strong fighter, but a child at heart. And he reflects the same innocence that is probably still in Takato."

Rika nodded vaguely. "Do all of you guys reflect the attributes of your tamers?"

Renamon chuckled softly. "Perhaps," she said. "Perhaps."

Suddenly a noise caught the human's attention. The secret door that Rika, Henry and Ryo had just entered through opened, and Kazu and Kenta were dumped through it. After them came a dark, winged digimon who looked like the kind you would never want to mess with. Ryo cried out in a yelp and ran at the digimon, throwing himself upon it and squeezing it in a hug. Any other sane person or digimon would have left the terrifying creature alone, but Ryo was the only special person able to get close enough and survive to tell about it.

"Cyberdramon!" Ryo screamed, trying to make it look like his tears were simply itchy eyes. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

Cyberdramon growled something unintelligible, but was resigned to let his Tamer hug him. It was the only sign he gave that he was pleased to see Ryo.

"What is going on here?" Kazu exclaimed, standing up and helping Kenta up as well. "I demand an explanation!" He stopped suddenly, and blinked as he realized where he was. "How…" he couldn't say anything else, so he let his jaw hand open a good several inches. Kenta did the same.

A few minutes later, two girls walked in through the door. Suzie was one of them, and she rushed instantly at Henry and demanded an explanation. The second was Jeri, and she was crying. After her came a large digimon that everyone knew and loved: Leomon. As soon as the large cat digimon had entered, Jeri threw herself upon him much the way Ryo had thrown himself upon his partner, and sobbed even harder. Leomon did his best to calm her down.

Henry watched everyone's joyous reunion, looking all over for Terriermon. But he could not see his partner anywhere. The others were here! Surely Terriermon must be also! But…he wasn't. Tears welled up in Henry's eyes, and he hugged Suzie without a word. Then he felt a hand of his shoulder.

"Hey," Rika said, smiling faintly at him. "Maybe I can make you feel better." She pulled him and his sister to the back of the room, where a few of the digimon were sleeping. She pointed to a white mass of digital fur. "I think he wont mind waking up to see you." She indicated a purple digimon next to the white one and told Suzie she should wake it up. Then she walked away, chuckling faintly.

Henry wasted no time. He poked the ball of fur sharply, hastily wiping the tears. "Terriermon!" he whispered. "Wake up!"

The digimon stirred, and a long ear extended upward, revealing a sleepy Terriermon underneath. "I'm sleeping," the digimon complained. "Come back tomorrow."

"Oh Terriermon!" Henry grabbed the little digimon and held him tight, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I never thought I'd see you again! I was so angry…so upset…"

Terriermon's eyes opened slowly, and a lazy smile crossed his cute face. "Momentai," he sighed. Then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep, satisfied to be reunited with his best friend.

Needless to say, everyone was joyfully and tearfully reunited with their digimon, even Kazu and Kenta. And for a few fleeting minutes, everyone forgot that the world was in danger. But those moments passed quickly.

"Everyone listen up!" Renamon said loudly. The whole underground fell silent, And Rika stood next to her partner and tried to look like she knew what was going on. She didn't though, so she let Renamon do the talking. "We cannot linger here," Renamon declared forcefully and urgently. "We must act! Lucemon has sent out the D-Reaper, and it is destroying cities and people wherever it goes! We must fight!"

The underground room filled with battle cries and shouts of agreement. Then everyone quieted again. They were waiting for instruction.

"We will separate into groups. Each group will be led by a Tamer and their partner. I will send each group to a different location to fight." Renamon began listing the groups, and when she was finished, she glanced around the room momentarily. "Is everyone ready?"

Another loud unanimous shout filled the room.

Renamon nodded. "Then let's go save the world."

* * *

Kouichi shivered uncontrollably, lying flat on his back in the middle of a blood-red prison. It was cold—cold as death. And he was completely alone. 

"It's all my fault," Kouichi whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I opened the stupid portal. And now this monster is using my body to destroy the world." He shivered again. "It's all my fault…"

Sobbing silently, he wished that he could just die, and that everything would just stop. But even with his death, he'd only help Lucemon more. There was nothing he could do without making things worse. Why oh why did he even have to be born?

Lucemon chuckled to himself, watching the figure trapped in the prison with a sickly amused expression. Kouichi's despair and desire for death only strengthened the D-Reaper to bestow more destruction on the Human World. And the worthless little human didn't even know it.

Still cackling, the evil lord walked to the entrance of the portal. A slight frown creased his features. That nuisance, that human called Yakihiro…he was supposed to be dead by now. Midias was under his control, wasn't he? So why wasn't that infuriating human dead yet? Lucemon called out angrily to JagerLowemon, his patience wearing thin.

"My Master," the cat digimon answered fearfully. "What do you wish?"

"Why isn't that human dead yet?" Lucemon hissed. "What's happening down there?"

"The human Midias is fighting the other ninja, my Lord. And there's something else…Kouji and Takuya are here. They have some of the mutated Legendary Warriors with them."

"I see. Very well, I will use those worthless Legendary Warriors to destroy their human partners." Lucemon bristled at the thought of the warriors who had defeated them. "No wait," he said quickly, and idea coming to him. "On second thought, I want to kill them myself."

"I will see that that is arranged, my Lord." JagerLowemon purred slightly. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Get yourself free and make sure that despicable human dies."

"Yes, my Lord."

Lucemon broke contact and sighed, glancing down at the world below him. "Ah yes, the glory of death and destruction. No more useless thoughts of bringing order to the world…I want to destroy it…destroy the world of those who defeated me, and then make myself a palace with both digital worlds. No one will ever defeat me again." He cackled again, delighting in the glory of his destruction.

* * *

Zoe stared at the fire in front of her...horrified at the sounds and smells of people burning to death. All this destruction... She shivered uncontrollably. What was going on? Why wouldn't anything make sense? Why couldn't she find the answers, no matter what she did? Not even the police had believed her at first when she called them, and now they were at a loss as to what they could possibly do! Who was causing all this death?

She had to do something. She just had to! Deliberately, she marched away from the pain and death, trying to keep herself calm, trying to keep from throwing up. But she just couldn't take it. A couple of steps further, and she completely lost all food in her stomach, her sides aching from the effort. And she didn't even have a tissue to wipe her mouth and nose.

"Having a little trouble?"

Zoe whirled around, startled to see Kouichi standing in front of her, a sick smile on his face. His eyes glowed red and empty, just like BurningGreymon had when Takuya couldn't control him. Startled, she took a step backwards. "Kouichi? What's wrong?" she asked. Something was wrong...terribly wrong...

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I hate you." He smirked at her, and even his smirk felt like a piercing glare. "I hate your guts and I want you dead. You're such a snob, and you always act so much better than the rest of us. You think I didn't notice how you always treated me differently? Well now I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you always thinking yourself better than me!" He stepped forward, a dangerous glint in his bloodshot red eyes. "And I'm going to kill you now, because I hate you."

"Kouichi!" Zoe burst into tears, backing away helplessly. She was so scared... "Why are you saying that? I never thought that! Please...Can't you see all the destruction around you? We have to stop it!"

"Stop it?" Kouichi laughed a cold, deadly laugh. "What are you talking about? I caused it! I did all this, because I hate you all! I hate everyone and I want you all to DIE!" He lifted his hand, and the ground beneath Zoe trembled. Fire streamed from the portal in the sky toward the helpless sobbing girl, and Kouichi's evil laugh echoed across the burning city.

But the fire never touched her. A flare of bright light startled her, and still petrified, she stared uselessly at a black dragon-like digimon who had stepped in the way of the fire. The digimon was terrifying, so much so that he looked like he could be an evil digimon. But he was rescuing her?

"Alright, D-Reaper!" A young man's voice yelled above the roar of the flames. "You caused enough destruction! Prepare to die!"

A flash of fire, and a dark swirling force merged together, and light temporarily blinded Zoe. When she could see again, the dragon digimon was fighting Kouichi.

"Kouichi," she whispered, sobbing. She collapsed to the ground, crying her heart out. She didn't even know how or what to think.

* * *

That's all I have time for. Sorry everyone. 

Well, God bless you, and I hope you review. I really do. Merry Christmas! (I say that because I celebrate it. If you don't, you can ignore it. But I'm not going to _not _say it because I might _offend _someone. If you don't celebrate it, don't bother getting annoyed. If you do…MERRY CHRISTMAS!)

I wish you all a good night.

---rika195


	12. Battle Begins

**Kidnapped**-----------------**chapter 12**

Thank so much for all your reviews everyone!

**Kimiko Kinomoto**

**Evide**

**Usagi Sohma 83**

**black peeches**

This chapter is dedicated to you!

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon at all. I can claim nothing. But I am eternally grateful that I am allowed to write fanfiction about it!

(------------)

Ryo watched Cyberdramon fight the D-Reaper, then turned to the blonde girl that had fallen to the ground in tears behind him. He rushed over to her as fast as he could. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, helping her stand.

"Kouichi…." The girl sobbed. "I…why…are you attacking him? Why is he….attacking me? Destroying the city?" She continued to cry, and her knees gave out underneath her.

Ryo grabbed her shoulders as quickly as he could, afraid that she would hit her head when she fell. Then he picked her up. "It's not Kouichi," he insisted quietly. "This is not your friend. This is something called the D-Reaper. She stole your friend's form."

"No….it's….Kouichi…..stop hurting him!"

Ryo sighed. This was going to be hard. He turned to observe the ten or so digimon that accompanied him and Cyberdramon to this area to fight, and watched as they fought to stop the D-Reaper and put out the fires. He did not expect the D-Reaper do be here in person, and he had to admit he was a little worried. Perhaps she was not actually here. Perhaps there were several clones of Kouichi running around and destroying things. He frowned, unable to fathom how the horrible program could have survived his last encounter with her. "Cyberdramon! Left side!"

The black dragon-like digimon growled in response, dodging a red spear-like substance that had suddenly sprouted from the D-Reaper's arm, and continued to fight her with the help of the other digimon around him. The D-Reaper frowned, hissing angrily, then leapt into the air.

"You stupid digidestined! How did these digimon survive my master's portal? HOW? Lord Lucemon will destroy you for this, and I shall be the catalyst for the destruction of the world!" A shimmer of red flashed across the sky, and the form of Kouichi vanished, leaving behind a destroyed city.

Ryo sighed, furiously disappointed, then turned and locked his gaze with Cyberdramon. The digimon nodded and turned to the others.

"Let us put out the fire," Cyberdramon growled, his voice alone powerful enough to terrify most people. Then he turned and dashed toward the destruction, the digimon following after. "We shall be the ones to save the _human world_ this time!" he roared, moving at an impossible speed.

Satisfied, Ryo hurried over to a street corner and set the girl down. "Here," he said, supporting her. He urgently waved down one of the fleeing taxis, opened the door, and placed her inside. "Take this," he said to the driver, offering what money he had. "Take her to safety!"

The driver nodded, then turned back to stare at the destroyed city. "You better hop in too," he said gravely. "I wont expect any extra payment."

"I can't." Ryo backed up, standing proudly on the sidewalk before offering a brave smile. "I'm a digidestined. The digimon and I are going to save the world." He turned, ignoring the driver's protests of shock, and dashed off to join Cyberdramon.

(------)

Takato stared openmouthed at the fight unfolding before him. Only moments ago, a red light had bathed the ninja called Midias and turned him to the power of Lucemon. The ninja's eyes had glowed red, and out of nowhere, he produced shurikens and flung them in Takato's direction! But they had been deflected by a sword, and the second ninja had literally appeared out of nowhere, and now both of them were fighting each other.

Digimon in the cages hissed and screamed, all proclaiming that their 'master' would destroy them all, and that they couldn't resist. The entire place was in an uproar.

"Takato," Takuya said, suddenly appearing at Takato's elbow and helping Guilmon support him. "If Yakihiro is right, then not even BurningGreymon and Lobomon can be trusted. They could turn on us too." He looked down, a pained expression on his face, then looked up with renewed determination. "You can stop this though! I believe in you!"

"Takuya…" Takato blinked, standing a bit straighter. He still felt weak, and his stomach was crawling with a sick feeling that threatened to make him faint. "…you hardly know me…"

Takuya winked, smirking triumphantly. "But I can tell if someone is strong," he insisted. "And you are strong at heart." Slowly, Takuya dropped Takato's arm and stepped back, a light engulfing his body. When the light left, Flamon stood before him. "So let me offer you a little energy!" He stretched his hand toward Takato and Guilmon, yelling something unintelligible, and a stream of fire darted into Takato's body.

Takato gasped, startled, and blinked in surprise. Energy seemed to fill him up, and a voice in his head informed him that he could fight if he tried. Guilmon turned to stare at him for a moment that seemed to freeze in time, and then everything happened at once.

"Biomerge…" Takato blurted, finding himself once again surrounded by light and a digital field, while he and Guilmon together formed Gallantmon.

"Look out!" Yakihiro yelled, grabbing Takuya and dodging as the cages exploded and the captured digimon poured out.

"Kouichi!" Kouji screamed, running toward the door and pointing at a fire that was raging too close.

"No!" the second ninja screamed, glaring helplessly at Midias as he was run through with a sword.

"Die!" hissed JagerLowemon, stalking toward Yakihiro with a bristling expression.

"DIAMOND STORM!"

_Thump-thump, thump-thump…_

Everything seemed to stop completely as Rika walked slowly into the warehouse, her usual fighting expression on her face. "Takato," she said, smiling. "Or should I say Gallantmon?"

Gallantmon stared her, then at Renamon, who was pushing the mutated digimon outside where they could be contained. "You….and Renamon!" He sighed in relief. "I don't have to fight alone."

"No, never," she smirked. "Let's go."

And that was when time raced forward again.

(------)

"Aw, little Kouichi. You didn't tell me you had a depression problem," Lucemon laughed. He pointed at the helpless figure lying silently in the red sphere, his laughs getting louder. "And here I thought you were someone to be afraid of, back when you could manipulate both light and dark together like I could." He sniffed, his laughter suddenly forgotten as the memory of Kouichi's act returned to him. It was because of Kouichi…and Kouji and Takuya…that Susanoomon had been created.

Lucemon turned away furiously. The memory still chilled his spine. The gall, that someone could manipulate the same powers that he himself controlled! "Worthless brat," he spat. "It's a good thing you're in there, where your despair can be put to use, or I'd rip to pieces right now."

He walked away, still fuming, and halted suddenly. A ripple seemed to emanate from the sphere behind him in all directions…a ripple of darkness. It was followed by a more hesitant ripple of light. Lucemon turned in fury, his eyes glowing red with hatred, and he glared at the figure still lying in the sphere.

Kouichi's eyes were closed, a desperate and pleading expression on his face. He shivered, and another slight ripple billowed out from the sphere. Then another. Light….dark….dark….light…._gray_...

"NO!" Lucemon screamed, aiming an attack into the heart of the sphere. "I WILL NOT LET YOU! HOW DARE YOU USE MY POWERS!" His attack, contained inside the D-Reaper's sphere, enveloped the human in a painful glow. The ripples stopped, and all that was left was Kouichi's screams.

Lucemon turned and marched away, trembling. "It seems that I cannot go kill those worthless digidestined myself," he hissed. "_Someone_ needs watching." He seated himself on a throne that he'd created from absorbed data, and glared at the red sphere. Kouichi….that human brat…..was trying to use light and darkness together again like he had all those years ago. Lucemon knew that the combined power of both was strong enough to stun the D-Reaper from acting for a short period of time, and repeated successful attempts might cause a reverse in evolution of the D-Reaper's program. "He must not be able do that…" Lucemon hissed, trembling with rage. "HOW can he do that? It's not possible…."

Inside the D-Reaper, Kouichi's eyes opened slowly. He stared at the red prison around him, the pain from the attack still rendering him paralyzed. But resolve had hardened in his soul, and he was not going to sit by idly and let things get worse. He came up here to stop Lucemon, and that was what he was going to do, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

Painfully, he turned his head and glared at the digimon sitting on the throne in the distance, his eyes burning with hatred and determination. _You used me to destroy things I love, _he thought, shaking. _You killed so many people, and so many digimon, forever! And you made me be a part of that! For that, I will not let you get away with what you're doing. I will bring you down once and for all, Lucemon. I _will _bring you down. _

Lucemon shivered, turning away. "Brat," he spat, standing and walking away. But he could not shake the feel of the human's eyes upon him. Dare he admit, that he was afraid of his own little puppet? _There might have been more that happened between us when I scanned him, _Lucemon thought angrily. _I might have passed on to him a part of myself, just as I have part of him as myself. It was an arrangement I'm being to hate, even if it did keep me from complete destruction. _

Lucemon shook his head abruptly, then turned and surveyed the world below him. It was time to think about something else.

(------)

Jeri rode on the back of Leomon—her Leomon—who had further evolved to a striped, four-legged lion with incredible speed. Jeri had never seen him looking like this before, but Rika had given her an evolution card and told her to use it. And so, surrounded by several other beast digimon, she and Leomon were going to try to rescue people from the destroyed cities.

But her thoughts were not on her precious digimon partner, or on saving the world. No. Her thoughts strayed to the one person that did not show up with the others…Takato. _Her _Takato. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to stop the tears from coming. She had waited and waited for him, and when he didn't show up, she was ready to say goodbye to him forever. But she didn't know he'd been kidnapped. When that boy named Kouji came up to her, she didn't believe him. She didn't believe what anyone said when they told her that Takato was missing. In her own selfish thoughts, she had closed herself to the world, declaring that he had probably dumped her.

But then…all of this….and Leomon….

_Oh Takato, _she thought mournfully. _I wasn't there for you, and now I don't know if I'll ever see you again! _She buried her face in Leomon's fur, clinging to him for comfort, and tried to prepare herself to be strong. She would have to fight the D-Reaper this time. She couldn't expect Takato to come save her like he did last time. _Don't worry Takato, _she thought, _this time I will save you!_

When she sat up straight again, and saw the devastation before her, she did not quail in fear. She was determined to put an end to the D-Reaper once and for all!

"I can feel your determination," Leomon laughed gently, lifting up his head and tossing his striped mane. "It gives me strength!" He roared loudly, the sound both terrifying and encouraging, and dashed headlong into the burning city, the other digimon making battle cries as well. Even Jeri felt a surge of energy, as she gripped his fur harder. "Let's go save the day, little one," he laughed. "We have lots of work to do!"

"Yes," Jeri whispered, tears still in her eyes. "Let's go."

(------)

Wow! Craziness huh? I was going to keep writing, but I can't do it. I am really sick this week. So this will have to do for now. If you can't tell, everything is coming to the point of explosion. Next chapter will be full of action. But at least there's hope. Heh. We all know that the good guys are going to win. Right? Well…..haha. What if they don't? What if my plan is for them to fail? We'll see, wont we? That would make an interesting plot twist, wouldn't it? Hahaha!

So until next time…………Review? Please? You know how much I love to hear from you.

--rika195


	13. A Turn For The Worse?

**Kidnapped!**

**Chapter 13**

(--)

Thank you so much for all your kind and encouraging reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with digimon. Therefore, I am grateful for such a thing as legal fanfiction.

(--)

Everything seemed to be happening at once, with such confusion, that none of it made any sense. Thrown off by odd experiences, and confused from everything that had happened, Gallantmon just stood there and tried to take it all in. Was this what a real battle was like?

"Gallantmon!" Rika screamed.

That seemed to work, and Takato and Guilmon snapped out of it. There was fighting happening all around him….fighting that was taking place so that he could go destroy the D-Reaper. His resolve hardened. He wouldn't let them down.

With a mighty yell, he thrust his lance into one of the digimon, knocking another aside with his great shield. Both half-digimon stunned and winded, collapsed on the ground and didn't get up. Good. Takato didn't really want to kill any of them. Clash after clash of weapons against claws, he fought his way toward the door. Then, as suddenly as it all began, there was nothing left to fight.

He hesitated, looking around him in confusion.

Rika was panting, her sleeves torn and blood on her arms, standing in the corner with her cards and digivice. A couple D-Reaper-influenced digimon lay stunned at her feet. She was smiling grimly. Renamon appeared beside her, worried, and then waited for direction. "Gather up these digimon and put them back in the cages," Rika said, catching her breath. "If we can save them, it's for the best. But we have to lock them up so they don't come back to attack us."

The other good digimon around her nodded and quickly obeyed.

Takato, breathing a sigh of relief, walked over to where Takuya was staring darkly out at the sky. "Hey," he said quickly. He knew he had to leave, but he didn't know if he'd have this chance again. "Thanks."

Takuya gave him a lopsided smile. "What, you think I'm going to let you have all the fun?" he demanded. "I'll have you know, I'm not done yet."

Gallantmon grinned. "Glad to hear it."

"This isn't over yet!"

Everyone turned, edged and ready, at the sound of JagerLowemon's howl of rage, just in time to see him leap with outstretched claws and teeth at Yakihiro's throat. And if that wasn't enough, Agunimon and BurningGreymon also leapt into action, using the distraction to attack Takuya.

Yakihiro went down, the cat on top of him.

Takuya cried out in alarm, his two friends tearing at him.

Kouji mysterious vanished, Lobomon following him.

Midias whirled and threw his sword where Yakihiro had fallen.

And Takato….

He surged forward, an angry yell escaping his mouth again. Everything was happening too quickly! It was like watching a poorly made film, with everything falling from bad to worse! He shoved his lance under JagerLowemon and flung the cat backwards. It hit the cages and crashed ungracefully, yowling in rage. "Yakihiro!" he bellowed, bending down. "Say something!"

The man was stunned, teeth gritted together, a sword through his shoulder and pinning him to the floor. He looked up at Gallantmon with fire in his eyes. "Destroy Lucemon…" he forced his words out. "Save our world…..your friends can handle everything here….I'll be fine."

Rika was at his elbow in a flash. "GO!" she screamed. "I'll follow! We'll take care of this!"

Around him, the fighting continued….and Gallantmon staggered to his feet. Too much….this was all too much to take…..how could this all happen so quickly?

_Don't worry, Takatomon…._Guilmon said. Takato could feel his strength. _He'll be okay. We can handle this. I promise. _

"You're right," Takato croaked. He hurried out of the warehouse, glancing back once to see the enemy digimon faltering under the onslaught of the good digimon army. They were no match, in their weakened state. "We have a job to finish."

He lifted his lance and closed his eyes. Yeah he was weak and confused as heck. But he'd never give up. Never!

Light enfolded him as he remembered all the sacrifices that were made so that he could do this….and he smiled, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I wont fail," he whispered. He smiled inwardly at Guilmon. "WE wont."

The light faded, and Gallantmon Crimson Mode stood in his place. Spreading his wings and brandishing his sword, he flew off toward the portal to find Lucemon.

(--)

Kouji slipped behind the corner, his eyes narrowed, and waited for Lobomon to arrive. Sure enough, the half-wolf digimon leapt at him with claws and teeth bared, ready for the fight he knew was coming. It could have been a long fight, with Kouji begging Lobomon to listen to reason and break Lucemon's control. But it wasn't. There just wasn't time for that. Angrily and impatiently, Kouji grabbed Lobomon's throat and threw him against the wall he'd slipped behind, slamming his partner's head as hard as he could.

It took Lobomon by surprise. He knew Kouji well, and he knew that Kouji didn't want to hurt him. Part of him was grateful, but the part that was being controlled wanted to take advantage of that. So for him to find himself being crushed mercilessly against the wall….it seemed to snap something inside him. He lay stunned on the concrete.

"I don't have time to fight you," Kouji growled, almost as though he were the wolf. "That cat is not JagerLowemon. It's a clone, and it has to be destroyed. The real one was too strong to be manipulated, and I hope for your sake that you are too." He spat the words out with such anger that it cut straight to Lobomon's heart. He lay there, unable to move or think. "I'm going back in there, and I'm going to kill that clone. If you value your life, you'll snap out of it and help me. I KNOW you're stronger than this."

He turned back toward the warehouse, then paused.

Lobomon rolled over, pulling himself to his feet in hesitation. His body fought the need to rip Kouji's throat out….tear him to pieces. It was all he could do to resist. But….

That look….of utter scorn…..it was more than he could take. Suddenly, as fast as Lucemon's hold had taken over him, it vanished. He lowered his head with a snarl, clenching his hands into fists. "I am not worthless," he growled. "I know that your anger for Kouichi is making you heart-hearted, but I know that somewhere in there, you still care for me. If our bond means anything to you…then you'll accept the risk and take me with you. I could turn on you…but you are the only one who can save me. I _know _that you still care!"

Kouji's eyes narrowed further, and Lobomon felt anger rising in him. How could Kouji do this to him? How could he hate him like this? It wasn't Lobomon's fault! Growling, the fur-like hair on his back and neck rose. Why, he aught to tear the worthless human apart right now!

_Yes, destroy him! He doesn't care about you anymore! Even though you've freed yourself, he wont see it. You're worthless to him now, the arrogant piece of trash! Rip him to shreds with your teeth! Destroy him! _

For a moment, all Lobomon could see was red, and Kouji's still, rigid form. The human's eyes were narrowed, and his face uncaring. He waited for the attack. Yes, he _should _be destroyed! He didn't deserve Lobomon as a partner!

The growl escaped the wolf-like digimon's throat, and he bent in a crouch with his hands to the ground, shifting his boots on the concrete. He was ready to pounce. But then he hesitated. He couldn't kill Kouji like this! Maybe the human didn't care any more…maybe he was a jerk who didn't deserve Lobomon's loyalty. But Lobomon never went against his word. He'd sworn to always be there for Kouji, no matter what. If he couldn't even follow his own convictions, then he was no worse than Kouji was!

He sighed, raising back up to his feet and lowering his head. "If that's the way it's going to be, then I will fight somewhere else," he said, closing his eyes in pain. Even as he said it, the last remnants of Lucemon's hold vanished….and a weight was lifted from his mind.

Suddenly, he felt Kouji's hand on his shoulder, and he looked up in surprise. There were tears in Kouji's eyes.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever done," Kouji whispered. He knelt down beside his partner, smiling painfully. "But I had to know….I had to see you break his hold because it was the right thing to do, not because I wanted you to. It was the only way….."

Suddenly it all made sense. Lobomon lowered his head, horrified that he'd let himself believe those lies. How could he have doubted Kouji?

Kouji threw his arms around him and hugged him, letting out a shaky sigh. But then he stood and turned back to the warehouse. "Let's go destroy that clone," he growled.

Lobomon's eyes lit up. "And save our world," he agreed.

They ran into the continuing battle.

(--)

Kouichi took a deep breath, relieved that he could fill his lungs with air again. Lucemon's attack had left him so tired and stunned that breathing had become shallow and difficult. But now it was beginning to wear off. A grim, faint smile flickered on his face for a moment, but he quickly let it pass. He needed to work on the light/dark attacks some more while Lucemon was distracted.

Speaking of Lucemon, Kouichi turned his head to see what he was doing. The digimon was pacing back and forth, angrily, muttering to himself. Occasionally he would yell as loud as he could in fury, but then he would stop and smirk to himself, and begin pacing again. Always, when he was quiet and smiling evilly, that was when Kouichi felt the most hopeless.

_Now is as good a time as any, _Kouichi decided, sighing. He closed his eyes and concentrated, searching for the connections that bound him to Lowemon and JagerLowemon, and also to Lucemon. Somehow, he needed to use the light/dark attack to stun the D-Reaper…and sever his connection to Lucemon. Once he could do that, then there was a chance for a success. If he could not…

Well…he didn't really want to think about what would happen if he could not.

The air in the sphere rippled, and he took a shaky breath. Yes…he could feel the connection now…..so close….But he hesitated. He couldn't use the attack yet or he'd be stunned again. He had to just concentrate on how it felt. _I may only have one chance to do this right….just one. I have to do it right. _

So he lay quietly, breathing, concentrating on getting a feel for the attack. He couldn't let Lucemon know what he was up to.

(--)

Fire engulfed him once again, blinding him from seeing anything. Claws ripped at his skin, and he cried out in anger and pain. "STOP IT!" Takuya yelled. Still, his partners fought him. "YOU NEED TO FIGHT IT! LISTEN TO ME!"

They couldn't hear him. Their eyes were red, their ears closed. Lucemon controlled them completely.

Takuya, still in Flamon form, jumped out of reach of their claws and crouched on the table, panting. There had to be some way to get through to them! But what? They couldn't hear his words….maybe his actions might speak to them. "Alright, if that's the way it has to be," he sighed, "then I'm not going to hold back anymore."

He leapt at them with the same fury that they attacked him.

Seconds seemed like hours, and each blow felt like he was weighed down by 200 percent gravity, but he pressed on with such fury that neither Agunimon nor BurningGreymon could stand before him. They were beaten back, weakened with every attack, until they could not rise from the ground even to plead for mercy. Only then did Takuya stop to take a breath.

It was quiet. Too quiet, as though everything just froze. Had he done too much? Worried, Takuya wearily pulled himself to his feet and glared down at his unmoving partners. He held his breath in terror.

"Are you….dead?" he whispered.

For a second there was no sign of life, but a brief flicker of a smile appeared on Agunimon's face. Then there was nothing again.

But that was enough. Takuya fell to his knees beside them, changing back into a human from the exhaustion, then scooped Agunimon up in his arms. "Agunimon!" he cried, horrified at his own devastating attacks. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" He set him back down and grabbed BurningGreymon, only to repeat the same words to him as well. "Please say something!"

They were quiet, barely alive. But Agunimon's eyes fluttered open weakly. "I thought…." He whispered, "…that you were going to…..kill me……I…..hated you…..for a moment…..so sorry……"

"Shut up!" Takuya screamed. "I never wanted to hurt you!"

"Know that…..now….." Agunimon's eyes closed.

"Don't worry," BurningGreymon managed to say. He tried to get to his feet, but couldn't. "Your attacks were so strong….we couldn't fight them. Made us remember what we were doing. Without that….we would have killed you." He locked eyes with Takuya. "You saved us."

Takuya shook his head, crying. "Don't die!" he begged. "I didn't want to kill you!"

"No way," Agunimon replied shakily. "Remember….we're still…..tied to you…….your strength…..gives us strength….not going to die…."

"Don't worry about us," BurningGreymon agreed, sighing. He closed his eyes to rest. "Fight Lucemon like you just did, and nothing can stop you. Nothing."

Takuya stood, wavering on his feet, and gave a hesitant nod. "I don't know if I can," he replied, wiping his eyes. "I need you guys."

"So get your but out there and fight!" Agunimon spoke with more strength now, like he was already recovering. "Lucemon's hold….it's gone now…..it must be easier for us since we have you as a partner. The other digimon….they aren't so lucky. I think only the experiment Yakihiro was trying to do can save them."

"That's right! Yakihiro!" Takuya blurted, looking around. The fighting was still going, and Yakihiro was still pinned to the ground with a sword in his shoulder. From here, he looked unconscious. "He might be the only one to stop this!" Takuya shook his head at the irony. "And all this time, I thought he was the enemy."

"Appearances can be deceiving," BurningGreymon sighed. "Go help him. We'll join you when we get our strength back."

Takuya nodded and hurried over to where the man lay. "Yakihiro!" he said urgently, tapping his face to wake him up without hurting him. Slowly, the man's eyes opened in confusion. "I need to you finish the experiment. Can you do that?"

The man shook his head. "Not enough digimon….equipment ruined…..Midias….." His eyes widened as he said the last one.

Takuya frowned, opening his mouth to asked "what about Midias?" when he felt a blade slice through his skin. His eyes widened, his mouth forming an "o" in surprise, and he slumped over to the side, his body in shock.

Midias, eyes red, smiled evilly down at both of them. "I think I'll take this," he sneered, yanking the sword from Yakihiro's shoulder and ignoring the cry of pain it merited. "And then I'll just give it back!" He plunged the sword back down, aimed for the heart.

A cry of anger and a blinding flare of fire escaped Takuya before he could realize what he was doing. Two seconds later, Midias burned away into nothing like he was never there.

The sickening smell filled the room, and Takuya gaped at the blackened spot on the ground in horror. As darkness finally claimed his mind, he heard himself mutter, "did I do that?"

But the darkness brought the sweet relief of silence.

(--)

Ryo skidded to a stop right before falling into a huge crevice that had opened up in the ground, and felt Cyberdramon grab him around the waist. He flashed a quick "thank you" smile before turning and frowning at the mess before him. "The city is in ruins," he said, sighing. His eyes raked across the horizon, taking in the tumbled buildings, the flames engulfing them, and the giant rents in the ground like the one he'd almost fallen into. "It's worse than last time."

Cyberdramon growled, his back tensing, and he raised his head upward. Ryo followed his movements, and saw the form the D-Reaper had stolen, smirking down at them. _"Let us destroy him!"_ he snarled, preparing to launch into the sky.

Ryo scowled, and nodded. "Alright, take me up to him. I need to talk to him first though, and find out as much as I can. Maybe we can get through to the guy who's been captured. If we can...and he can find a way to stop the D-Reaper, then we've got a chance."

The other digimon in Ryo's group all nodded in agreement. "We'll rescue all the people we can find," one of them said. "When you need us, we'll help you fight!"

"Sounds good." Ryo hopped onto Cyberdramon's back. "Take us up!"

They _rose_ into the air to where the D-Reaper floated, in the shape of the one called Kouichi. Ryo could still remember the girl's sobs as she screamed out at him, wondering why her friend had attacked her. He shivered. Never again could he allow the D-Reaper to do this! If only he knew how to stop it!

_"There is a way to stop the D-Reaper,"_ Cyberdramon growled.

Ryo glanced down, surrprised. "How?"

His partner was silent for a moment. _"The Juggernaut Program. In Terriermon's ear. He still has it." _

Ryo's mouth fell open in horror. He knew it would work, as it had last time, but he also knew what would happen when it was all over. "No," he stuttered. "There has to be another way! I can't lose you again! None of us can!"

_"You wont lose us this time."_

"What do you mean? You'll start de-evolving again, and you'll have to go back to the digital world!"

_"There isn't a digital world to go back to," _Cyberdramon sighed. They hovered for a second, looking up to where the D-Reaper laughed at their futile attempts to stop it. _"And besides that, most of the digimon have already changed. They wont de-evolve, and neither will we. We aren't inside the D-Reaper this time."_

"No...but Terriermon will be," Ryo whispered. He shivered, then shook his head. "There has to be another way. I can't ask Henry to go through that again."

_"You may not have to."_

Ryo opened his mouth, then clamped it shut. Of course. The idea would have already occured to Henry by now. "It's his choice then," he sighed, his throat tightening at the thought. But he scowled in determination. "But you and I are going to find some other way before it's too late. We HAVE to stop it somehow. If Henry and Terriermon use the Juggernaut, and Terriermon starts to de-evolve...there wont be anywhere for him to return to. He'll...disappear. We can't let that happen!"

_"We wont."_

(--)

The end...for now.

Sorry if that was too much. I am just trying to remind people that this is...well...a war. So it's going to be a little bit...violent, shall we say? Oh never mind.

Reviews, comments, critiques, etc. are nice...

(--)

End


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